The Fox's Lament 2
by SkullFox
Summary: The carry on from The Fox's Lament. As war threatens to tear the Trinity Accord apart, Lament tries his hardest to find a way home... Brought to you by: Maniacal Laughter Inc. Your store, for blood and gore
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This may be updated slowly but, only because I want to take my time with it. This was my original idea for Lament 2 and it's gonna stay that way. Thanks for the support and I hope this ends up just as well off as the original Lament. PS: Sorry if this is a bit short, but by about chapter 4 expect mass amounts of violence and several other aspects that will definately make this a rated M...sorry I just don't do Teen ratings that much...  
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**BTW: Akuba Reiko, was a write in character from Mkll...thanks for the idea if you're reading this.**

_The footsteps in the darkness - SkullFox

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**-Chapter I-**

_-Lament-_

It's been over a month since Krystal had last seen Lament before the collapse of the temple, she'd considered going back in hopes of finding him there alive and waiting for her...but her heart so often told her that she was hoping for a miracle that would never come, that her mind simply accepted it as fact. She could not bring herself to stay aboard the Great Fox...even if it was so much different than before, the memories simply would not allow her to stay on such a ship. The vixen had however honored the vulpine's last words. Krystal had stayed there on Sauria, helping Bella with whatever she needed...it only seemed right, the old vixen was after all the only other Cerinian she knew of, did that not make Krystal responsible for the old one?

Krystal managed to keep her sanity mostly in tact by doing the only thing she was any good at, bounty hunting...she hardly ever really had any work these days, it seemed that Lament's death seemed to remove all traces of crime from the Lylat system altogether. She knew that such a thing was ridiculous. Some of her weeks were entirely spent in space tracking down one scumbag or another. Somehow killing the scum of the Lylat system made her delicate mind travel to other places rather than on the fact that she'd once again lost everything she loved.

Alone, the light blue furred vixen sat, her mind and senses anywhere but where they should be. Space held none of the majesty that it once had to her, it only reminded her of him, just like everything else that she did or saw. Every night she feared her sleep, for the dreams it brought her were only full of visions of a light brownish-red furred fox that she'd loved. She'd fallen hard from the person she build up to being again, her soul continued along the path it had been on when she was endlessly searching for Lament. She hated everything and everyone she met, of course with the exception of Bella, the one person that seemed to understand what the young vixen was going through. Days would pass and nothing would change, her sleep was still haunted by visions of the lover she'd at some point condemned to death, and there were no signs of her loosing the feeling anytime soon. Her only purpose in life the hunt and where it would take her next...

_**-Stygian system-**_

_**-Planet Styx outer aerospace-**_

_**-Dreadnought class cruiser The Lancer-**_

_**-March 15th 11:35am GST-**_

The captain of the ship was no stranger to finding lagers hanging about in space...though he was still surprised to find a single wolfen dead in space. The light gray furred coyote was far from your average breed of space faring folk...pirates were a rare breed in the modern day, but, it was his only joy he felt in life anymore. Knowing that anything he wanted could be his at any time, it was what he considered to be the true embodiment of power. As he sat on the bridge of his ship, the coyote moved his shoulder length black hair away from his azure colored eyes most of the time he'd have ignored something as simple as a dead wolfen, but, times had been rough, his ship was in desperate need of repairs, and the wolfen was in relatively good shape, well......good enough to sell for spare parts, he was just surprised as hell to find that the vulpine in the cockpit was still alive even though he did seem to be in pretty rough shape. The only other real member of the coyote's crew was a young Minx named Leena. She was a caring creature, though kind of quiet...however her medical skills were a welcome asset to the ship. Today was no exception to how dull life had become, with Kursed knocking off anyone that even dared gather a price on their head, which left a sour taste in the captain's mouth, he hated staying in one place too long...getting rooted meant getting familiar and getting familiar meant getting sloppy, that wasn't something he wanted, the ones that became familiar were the ones that Kursed hit the fastest. After a short while of sitting on the bridge of the ship, the coyote sighed taking a sip of coffee from a black mug in his left paw, he'd been up for only 4 hours and he was already considering going back to sleep that was before a familiar voice echoed through the room...

"Reiko..." A rather alluring voice shouted, "Your guest just woke up....he seems pretty disoriented.. His legs are still broken but, he seems to be okay besides that wound on his head."

The gray furred coyote sighed a bit, at least the whole day wouldn't be boring, "Fine...I'll be down in a sec."

He yawned deeply, shaking the weariness form his head as he stood up and made his way out of the large room, the halls of his ship had always been empty and barren. There was always room on his ship, it was much too large for a single animal to live, all repairs and maintenance of the massive ship rested on his shoulders. However, unlike most animals these days who feared the blue furred vixen bounty hunter, Reiko made certain that there was no way at all that Kursed could possibly catch him, he'd made certain that his base of operations was simply set somewhere Kursed was not familiar with...and that was the Stygian System, where most of the planets were uninhabited or unexplored entirely.

The coyote made his way through the chrome halls, his boot steps echoing off of the hard metal floor. He remembered a time when the entire ship was full of such a sound but, not any more. There was a time when there was an entire crew of animals to call him Captain, now, there was only himself, and Leena...a simple stow away slave girl that proved herself useful, buying herself a place on the ship. Thinking about his old crew often caused him to look for the nearest drink he could find, that was probably the reason there was so much liquor on the ship...but then again, what kind of pirate, past or present, didn't have a bit of Rum on hand at all times? Luckily at the moment he'd already had a bit to drink and the memories didn't seem to bother him so much. As he finally stepped into the ship's small medical bay he found Leena sitting at the young vulpine's bedside, her fur was of a light off white color, whereas her long hair was a deep golden color, her eyes were a very light green that seemed blue at times, she often wore a two piece top that consisted of a gray tank top, and another piece that consisted of only a pair of sleeves and shoulders that fastened around her collar giving the appearance of a full shirt, and a pair of light blue jeans. The young fox that was sitting upright in the bed was more than strong looking, his muscular build was rather intimidating. He looked at the coyote through one green eye as the other was clouded white with blindness from the scar that trailed over his brow and down the cheek of his face, there was a white tuft of hair on his head, but for the most part it was still covered in blood from a rather nasty wound he had suffered at some time. The animal's gaze made Reiko's entire body feel heavy, as though he were staring into the eyes of death himself...

"Who are you people?" The fox half whispered.

"My name is Akuba Reiko...most people just call me Reiko."

The fox paused for a moment to study the Minx's face who sat at his bedside before looking up to the coyote, "Dead Eye Reiko, huh?" The fox replied, "I've heard a lot about you."

"Wish I could say the same." Reiko responded gently scratching his neck.

The battered vulpine looked to the captain, "Oh, I'm sure you've heard of me." He chuckled, "Most just don't seem to accept it at first." For a moment the injured vulpine simply sat there keeping eye contact with the captain, "Most of the time people...people don't call me anything, they usually don't get the chance, but, you did save my ass, so I guess you can call me Lament."

Reiko's short sided smirk spread across his face until he erupted into laughter, "You!? Lament?! HA!"

"I guess I found one of those idiots that actually believe that Lament is seven feet tall and can punch a hole in a Borrilium slab with his bare fists..." The vulpine smiled, "Believe whatever you want...I just need a ride back to Lylat."

Reiko bowed low showing thick sarcasm in his voice, "Well...Mister Lament." He said in a mocking tone, "I'm afraid you'll have to find another...IDIOT...somewhere else, cause there isn't a force in heaven or hell that'll get me anywhere near Lylat." The gray coyote replied, "Anyone with a record goes in there....Kursed kill their asses."

Lament couldn't help but to smile, "Yeah...that sounds about like her." He replied, "Well then, Cap'n..." He said with a mass of sarcasm in the last word, "What would you suggest I do then? You know busted legs and all."

Reiko already didn't like this guy, he was annoying, had an attitude, and was insulting what he believed to be the greatest pirate there ever was, "Far be it from me to just throw a cripple out into space. Hang around all you want, just don't expect much for food...I only buy enough to cover myself and Leena here."

"I've lived through my fair share of starvation...a few days in this place shouldn't be much."

Reiko headed on his way out of the room but, stopped at the door, "We're headed for Balmirre. I guess once you get there you can sell what's left of the piece of shit wolfen for another ship. Better to have your ass in a hospital than on my ship stink'n the place up." The coyote said walking out of the room.

Leena made certain that Reiko was out of earshot, "Please don't look down on Reiko too much...he really isn't that bad. He, he just......He's been through a lot..."

"Huh...sounds like you know him pretty well." Lament said.

"Sort of..." Leena replied with a welcoming smile, "He really respects Lament...even though he's never really met him. I don't think you'd just lie about something like that either, nobody wants to be as hated as Lament."

The young fox smiled a bit, "You're a smart one...but, you'd be surprised what people would do given the proper motivation."

Several days passed before Lament woke one morning to find a gorgeous sight hovering outside the ship; a large blue and green world much like Corneria, with a small set of ten beautiful rings about it. The sight of the planet reminded him of the one he only hoped was waiting for him back in Lylat, but, unfortunately he was in no proper condition to be flying even if he did have a ship. He tried his hardest to remember what had happened to him, how he'd gotten out of the collapsed rubble of the temple on Uth'maria, but...everything about that place was a blur he could only remember pushing looking Kursed as something pulled him back into the falling structure before everything simply went dark. He was happy enough to be off of the rude fucker's ship, something about that Reiko kid just got to him. Luckily for Lament however most animals simply refused to believe that he really was Lament, buying in to idiotic little rumors and legends started in local bars. This made it easier for the injured animal to get a hospital room where his legs could be treated by professionals though he'd have preferred Kursed's healing...it hurt like nothing he'd ever experienced in his life, but, it was much faster than anything else. As Lament lay in his new room, a familiar white furred Minx made her way to his side slowly, holding something in her arms...she seemed a bit timid as she made her way to Lament's bedside laying the bundle of cloth in her arms next to him...

"I found these on your ship before I sold it..." She said, "The money for your new ship is in there too."

Lament chuckled, "Keep the money. I have more than enough of my own."

"Thank you. I hope you find your way home...but be careful...Reiko wasn't kidding about Kursed, and she's not your only problem."

"What do you mean?" Lament asked, sitting up in his horribly uncomfortable hospital bed.

Leena sighed, "You really have no idea do you? There's talk of war. There's no way between Stygian and Lylat without running into one armada or another..but, if you really are who you say you are. I don't think you'll have any problem with that."

As Lament sat there he removed the wrapped cloth from the bundle only to find two nearly identical long, curved swords, once held in a black scabbard with a white wrapped handle, and the other that was the weapon's exact opposite. He slowly ran his paw over the one hidden within it's black scabbard...he'd mistakenly placed them in their wrong scabbards apparently at some point. After Leena left the room, Lament looked about the room. He still lay there trying to find out what had happened to him to leave him in this condition, but, at the moment the only thing on his mind was Kursed...and finding some way to let her know that he was still alive. Unfortunately, there was no way of contacting her from such a distance, even through Tachyon Frequencies, there were no communications between Lylat and a warring star system...the only question that remained in Lament's head was. Who in Stygian would be stupid enough to start a fight with Lylat. As he sat there thinking to himself of the problems that this war posed for him, Lament turned his room's television onto the first news channel he could find...if he was going to make his way to Lylat at a time when all system boarders would be watched so closely he needed to know everything about the war that he could find out....

**-Somewhere in Lylat-**

On a small ship a light blue furred vixen looks onto the holographic image of a familiar brown furred canine wearing a military uniform, his expression more than a bit serious...

"Listen Kry---I mean Kursed." He said, "You're the last member of Star Fox that is still flying...we need all the help we can get on the front lines."

The blue vixen sat there, letting out a heavy sigh, she'd sworn she'd never go back to that sort of life, that the only thing left for her was bounty hunting...besides that what about the old one? Bella could easily take care of herself. Her thoughts shifted to a small photo that she kept on hands at all times, of her and Fox from so many years ago...

"Fine..." She half whispered, "Nothing left in Lylat for me anyhow."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Notes:** _Hi everyone. Sorry that I put this one off for so long, but, Chains of Fate and Shattered Hopes have eaten away a lot of my time. So I promise to try and update Lament 2 a bit more frequently. If not I apologize, but, I am still a bit hooked on CoF for the time being. Don't forget that I love hearing from you all...so R&R. Thank you Zaran Rhulain forgiving me the kick in the ass that I so dearly needed to get going on this again ^_^_

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

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**-Chapter 2-**

_-Military Standards-_

Reiko still hadn't figured the animal out that he'd found floating in space; there was something about him that the coyote didn't quite understand. He had every thought of dropping the animal off at the nearest planet he could, however, something was telling him that he shouldn't. Reiko had never really been very fond of strangers, thought for some reason he never really seemed to mind Leena all that much. He found himself sitting in the kitchen of his ship staring at a half empty glass of Gin when a familiar white form entered the room. Leena hated seeing the coyote in such a way. She made her way to the table and sat across from him, simply sitting there…

Reiko looked to the bottom of his now empty glass, "You…believe that guy don't you?"

"I wish you would stop doing this to yourself…" She replied timidly, "I hear people all the time…they say terrible things about you. That you're no good, just a drunk."

Reiko grunted a bit, "Mmmm….let 'em talk…" He said finding that he had trouble staying upright at the moment, "Useless bastards…"

Noticing that the captain of the ship had far too much to drink, Leena made her way to his side and helped him out of his seat, "Come on…stop this drinking. You need to lay down for a while." She said grunting a bit as she shouldered his weight.

Reiko didn't bother saying a word, everything the Minx ever did seemed to be in his best interest. Though it was through blurry eyes, the gray furred coyote looked at the Minx as she helped him to his room…

"Thank you….Leena…"

The pale furred Minx smiled a bit at his thanks; if not for Reiko she'd have never made it away from the traders that intended to use her for their own profit, selling her off to the highest bidder…that however, was some time ago, when the young canine still had a crew under his command.

Leena sighed as they finally entered Reiko's room; a large, desolate room, where there were clear signs of decorations that had been removed from it. His large bed seemed void of any blankets, nothing but a thing white blanket to keep him warm at night. As she finally made it to the side of the canine's bed his full weight fell as he finally lost consciousness falling and pinning the Minx to the bed. For a moment Leena was stunned before she managed to roll him onto his side. She sighed heavily as she moved him onto his bed finally stopping to catch her breath, from lugging the animal around. She sat on the side of his bed for a moment as she rested, she wondered how Lament was doing now, and whether or not he had found a way back to Lylat where he belonged…

**-One month later-**

**-Balmirre Medical Clinic-**

**-April 20th 1:28pm-**

Lament had been recovering for a bit over a month, and he was finally rehabilitated being allowed to move around the premisses freely, thought still not fully allowed to leave, as one or two doctors were worried about his legs' ability to maintain his weight at all times, however, as the weeks pulled through the vulpine began to show surefire signs of radical improvement. Some of the doctors that worked with Lament claimed that his recovery was faster than it should have been with the severity of his injuries. It was finally his time to be released from the hospital where he could finally find a way to get back to Lylat, to get back to Kursed. He found that the hospital, like most others he'd stayed at in the past, made him feel far too uncomfortable, someone with his background had no place where police and bounty hunters had a clear shot at him. He actually thought about giving it a try to see if the blue furred bounty hunter herself would show up to get him again, but, he saw little chance in that. It was however as the chestnut furred vulpine stood at the front desk that he thought of an idea to get him across the boarder between Styx and Lylat. As he waited there the young female squirrel receptionist filled out some final release forms…

"Heard much on the war?" He started.

The young squirrel looked up at him for a moment, "Governments with different ideas I guess." She replied.

"I guess that's the normal cause isn't it?" Lament replied, "Where would I go to enlist for the frontlines?"

She paused in the middle of her work, "You're serious?" The red furred animal asked receiving a short nod, "There's an office just down the road…you're all signed out."

"Thank you…" Lament replied taking his things and heading out of the building that he'd called home for the last month.

"I'd have figured someone like you would have given up on war by now……" She said to herself as the lone animal left the building.

He didn't really remember the streets of Balmirre that much, they were different. Normally Balmirre was littered with animals; ranging from the honest worker, to the not so honest thief like most other place. Rather it was derelict, one mention of a war with Lylat and the streets became barren, completely void of life. Lament thought about all the time he'd spent in Lylat, he'd never once heard of the General of Corneria ever actually starting a war but, then again it was the Council that determined matters such as economy and war. He was certain that Agatha Benswig had a great deal to do with it, after all her standpoint with the idea of Stygian joining the Trinity Accord was always a bit rocky for some reason. Lament didn't trouble himself with any of it however, he'd already found his way across the boarder that Lylat had errected to keep Stygian forces from causing any damage to Lylatians. He'd find his way into the Stygian Military, and as soon as he had the opportunity he'd simply get over to Lylat and abandon the whole thing, leaving the warring idiots to fight their own fight.

He found the military building right where the young lady from the hospital had pointed out, unfortunately, leave it to a situation such as the one Stygian was in to draw out a world's darker underbelly. As the chestnut furred vulpine made his way toward the building in the distance; three animals seemed to appear from the shadows: a taller dark furred wolf with a patch of white between his eyes, a shorter stockier wolverine, and a young looking feline with calico markings. His eyes instantly went to the shorter wolverine; the animal's race was known in Stygian for being naturally aggressive, and smart as well. Chances were he was the leader of whatever operation was being held here, despite the fact that he clearly tried to put it off as if the Lupine to his left was leader. Unlike the feline and wolf at his sides, he wore a long black coat which was frayed around it's bottom that hung to his shins…

The wolf stopped pointing toward Lament, "Must be pretty important. Whatever you're carrying in that pack." He said pointing to the small bundle that held Lament's swords over his shoulder, "Drop it and you can leave."

Lament chuckled, "Bad timing boys." He replied, "Cuz I happen to be in a very good mood right now." He said dropping the small bundle from his shoulder, "And good for me…." He added taking a particularly offensive fighting stance, "…means bad for you."

"TJ…" The wolf said to the feline, "Kill this fuck."

Lament smiled a bit as he shifted his look to the feline, it'd been far too long since he'd seen the slightest speck of a fight, "Yeah, TJ…kill me." He taunted the feline.

TJ looked to the wolverine to his left who gave him a short nod; that proved Lament's theory as without a second thought the cat suddenly lunged at Lament. The animal could have attacked in any manner possible, but, the long knife that swiped at Lament's face was the last thing he'd expected. The feline stopped as if to turn toward lament again who only stared at the wolverine as the feline that now stood behind him let out a slight scream before falling to the ground. The wolf had no idea what to think but, the wolverine's eyes took notice to the small black combat knife that was nearly hidden behind Lament's wrist dripping with blood. The wolf took a step toward Lament at this point causing the wolverine to place a large, black furred paw on the animal's chest…

"You check on TJ…" He said causing the wolf to run off to the feline's side, "You're quick, I'm pretty sure Tee didn't even see what hit him." He said to Lament.

Lament only chuckled a bit. This caused the wolverine to rush in on the vulpine swinging his unusually stout fists at the animal. Wolverines were from a planet called Crynox in Stygian, it was a small, cold, savage planet; yet for their small size, the small bear-like animals were well known for their massive physical strength. The savage little beast threw several punches toward Lament, one missing and tearing a small chunk out of the stone building to Lament's immediate left. There was something odd about the animal's punches though; every one of them seemed slow, and yet the wolverine itself seemed to have no particular problems dodging Lament's expert kicks and punches. Lament barely jolted away from the small animal as he swiped the back of his paw at the vulpine's chest. Lament inspected the slight pain to notice two small cuts along his chest, they weren't too deep, but, he'd only just missed. Lament then noticed that the dark red gloves that the animal wore were projecting two small blades each that stretched a short ways past his knuckles, near his pinky and index finger. There was a brief moment of mock surprise on Lament's face before he lunged at the short, yet, powerful animal. The wolverine ducked what he had read to be a powerful kick only to have the vulpine drop to one paw swinging his other foot into the side of the beast's head with a force that sent the wolverine rolling head over heels until he was back on his feet. He wiped a small bit of blood from his lip before spitting out a sizeable glob of the red fluid; he then opened his short muzzle feeling around a missing space only to realize there was a tooth laying in the small puddle of his blood.

With a short growl the animal rushed in on Lament, nobody had ever hit him so hard in his entire life; the wolverine found that the thought of loosing the fight both enraged and excited him all at once. The animal swung several powerful punches at Lament only to have them skillfully knocked away or dodged, until Lament attempted to stab the animal finding his arm almost instantly locked in a powerful two-fisted grip. Just his grip alone felt as thought it could snap bone with only the slightest twist but; the wolverine quickly whipped the vulpine into the nearby wall, leaving a large fissure or two scaling through the stones before whipping him out into the empty street. Lament was still recovering and barely to his feet when the small animal seemed to fly at him with the hidden blades in his gloves seeking out to pierce whatever they could hit, however, in an instant reprisal that seemed mostly driven by fighting instinct…Lament caught the short animal by the wrists swinging him high overhead until the wolverine landed painfully on his back smashing in the hood of a nearby vehicle, the resounding impact setting off several nearby alarms. With the animal's wrists still firmly held in his paws, Lament leaped into a flip that landed him sitting on the animal's midsection instantly driving the wind from his lungs. Now in position Lament drove his knife down at the animal's throat only to have the wolverine's small hidden blades lock into his knife. The two animal began fighting each other's blades away from one another, their arms trembling terribly under the pressure caused between the two of them, until Lament placed his second paw on the handle of his knife. The fights quickly turned against the wolverine as the black knife began to inch it's way toward his throat. It was as this happened that the wolverine noticed a pair of words etched into the base of the blade: _James McCloud_.

It was in this instant that the fight seemed to halt, as Lament felt the barrel of a gun softly nudge the back of his skull. He was then pulled to his feet and turned about to see the face of a rather bulky looking black bear dressed down in a military uniform. He looked between Lament and the wolverine, then to the wolf and feline….

"Carson!!" He shouted, "Take Sanders, and Torres to the brig. See if a solid week won't get it straight. Bread and water, every meal." He said, "And someone get Morrison some medical attention at once."

"Yes, Sir." An otter saluted rushing off with a small group of men.

The bear looked Lament over after taking his knife, "You realize that wolverine you just fought was Black Lance special ops don't you?" He asked examining the name etched into the small black knife.

"I've fought better…" Lament replied.

The bear held up the knife while keeping his weapon aimed at the vulpine, "You wanna explain where you got this?"

"Dead man…" Lament replied, "Didn't seem to need it anymore?"

The officer handed the knife back to Lament, "Well, being that knife was last carried by Fox McCloud that means you're either him, or the man that killed him." He said looking Lament over, "Funny…I thought Lament would be……bigger."

Lament chuckled putting away his knife, "Yeah…I get that a lot…" He replied, "Don't worry about the cat……I missed." He said, "I just got outta the hospital, I'm a little rusty."

"Well if it's any consolation…I apologize. Some soldiers are simply harder to keep in line…" The bear said, "Especially Sanders…the wolverine…with the war and all military standards have gone down quite a bit."

"Hmmm…How low?" Lament asked.

The bear smirked a bit, "You wouldn't be implying working for the Styigan Military would you?"

"If the price is right…" Lament replied, "I wouldn't mind giving that Senator Agatha bitch a hard time anyhow."

"Well…thought our lucrative assets aren't that of Lylat…I'm certain we could work something out." The bear replied, "After all…you've got the highest bounty on your head I've ever seen. If you took down the legendary Fox McCloud, I'd pay just about anything to have you fight for us." He said, "I'm Captain Wallace, temporary acting Commanding Master Chief of this region of the Stygian defense."

Lament nodded as he picked up his small bundle of swords, "What do you say we go to my office where we can talk about this whole thing in private?"

"Lead the way Cap'n…"

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PS: If you come across any grammatical errors on my part let me know and I'll get to them ASAP...thanks again all and thanks for your support. ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Notes:**_ Well...I've always wanted to do more work on this one and now I'm getting my chance since I've got the story going somewhere. Thanks for the support to any that bother to read it; not nearly as many readers out there as there used to be...but, I plan to keep doing this, cuz it's fun. Anyhow, R&R, and I'll have the next chappie up asap...cya..._

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

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**-Chapter 3-**

_-Irony-_

**-3 days later-**

**-Balmirre Military Base-**

Lament spent his time playing along with the given tasks that he'd been given by the Captain. He desperately wanted to tell Wallace that he wanted to be placed on the front lines, but, such a request would surely come off as a bit suspicious from one such as Lament, wanting to get into a star system that wanted him dead more than any other…with a blue furred bounty hunter that would give anything to get her claws into him. His original intentions were to play it out as if he was simply enlisting for the war, given his flight experience he was certain they'd put him into the frontlines, but, having the news out that Lament had joined their army might also be a good enough thing in itself…Kursed was certain to catch wind of it. The general day by day of military life had always seemed tedious and annoyingly repetitive to the young vulpine. Then again patience was no longer his strong suit as well; his days consisted of him sitting around waiting for the day the Captain would call him in for his first mission…

The chestnut furred vulpine lay on a hard and uncomfortable bed filtering through his thoughts, "This isn't what I had in mind…" He told himself hanging his legs over the edge, "Why am I doing this anyway?" He asked, "She's probably better off thinking I'm dead…well at least it's better off for me." He sighed dropping back on the bed, "Then why can't I stop thinking about her?"

"_Because you're a fuck'n idiot." A voice replied almost instantly._

Lament shot up from his seated position, "Who said that? Who's in here?"

"_Think about it…you know where to find me."_

Lament could almost recall the voice that hounded him but, he couldn't figure out where it'd come from. He stood up and reached for his white tee shirt that lay on his nearby nightstand, before walking toward the bathroom where the voice seemed to originate…

"_That's right…you know where I am."_

Lament walked into the small personal shower room and suddenly stopped as he looked into the mirror. The reflection that stared back at him was foreign thought clothed the exact same; his eyes were both deep green, aside from Lament, who'd been missing one of his for years. Instead of the small ponytail that Lament wore, his reflection had only a slight tuft of white on his head. The reflection scowled at him angrily…

"You…" Lament snarled, "What do you want?"

"_When are you gonna stop running?" The reflection replied, "I thought Lament was fearless, but, truth is. No matter what…you still have every weakness I had."_

"I'm not the weak one here…" Lament replied, "If you're so fuck'n strong. Let's see you step out from behind that glass…"

The image of his younger, more naive self glared at him…

"That's what I thought." Lament said, "You gave up your life for this one."

_The reflection smiled, "Then why are you second guessing yourself?" It asked, "You can't say you aren't…if you weren't I wouldn't be here." It chuckled quite evilly, "You know what? I take it back. You're weaker than I ever was. I may have ran from myself, but, at least I never had to lie to myself…especially about my own feelings."_

Lament suddenly shot upright, he didn't recall even feeling tired; the dream had felt real enough, thought his reflection's words still stuck with him. He leaned back his head with closed eyes while taking a calm, long breath. After a moment of thought he looked down at his paws…

"They're too strong to let go…" He told himself, "Just not strong enough to hold on." He sighed looking back to the ceiling of his room, "We haven't changed at all…have we…McCloud?"

Suddenly a loud warning beep caught his attention through his room's PA system, "Lament. Captain Wallace would like to see you in his office…"

Lament sighed with relief, staying by himself for too long without much to do was causing him to lose his mind, "Alright Jen…tell him I'm on my way." He replied putting on his white shirt, "It's about god damn time." He told himself leaving the room barren once again.

Lament found himself in a small meeting room with several animal's he'd not seen before; a light brown furred canine (_German shepherd_), a lavender furred feline, and oddly what appeared to be a rather short panda. The room was very small and cramped, and thanks to the number of animals in the room, it was terribly hot. Lament yawned for about the fiftieth time just as the Captain walked through the door…

"I apologize for keeping you all waiting…but, I was given no alternative options." The bear said as he made his way to the front of the room, "Now allow me to explain the new face that you're all possibly wondering about. Being 1st Assault Division's special forces, we are expected to use the best of the best in doing what we do…so allow me to introduce to the team…the animal responsible for Fox McCloud's death, Lament."

The entire room seemed to instantly go silent, not even a breath could be heard as the small group of animal's turned toward the one eyed vulpine, who sat at a small desk with his head supported by one paw. Lament had been the last thing they'd all expected…

"Sir…" The panda asked, "I always thought Lament was bigger."

Lament sighed, "Oh dear god…" He spouted, "Is there anyone in the fucking universe that doesn't believe everything they hear?"

The canine in the room turned to Lament, "You know? I heard that Lament died a few months ago fighting Kursed."

Lament scoffed, "Yeah, right." He said, "So is this a fuck'n Q and A? Or are we going to hear about a mission or something?"

"Actually Lament, this is about you." The captain said, "The head of defenses states that he needs proof that you are who you say you are…the rest of you may take your leave…Commander Marks has a mission for the lot of you."

After the group left the room Lament looked to the bear, who sat in front of him, "Why are you here?" He asked, "I simply can't figure it out. Why turn against your own people?"

"They turned on me first…fair payback."

The Captain smiled, "Then you won't have a problem with your mission…" He said, "You see there's an animal in Lylat right now giving us a hard time. He's a great leader, and at the moment he's the only thing holding Lylat's forces together."

Lament sighed, "You want me to kill the acting Cornerian General…" He said, "That's getting a bit ballsy don't you think?"

"Call it whatever you want…" The bear replied, "But his death will cause the decline in the morale of the Cornerian troops. That will give us a clear advantage for our first attack."

Lament thought for a moment, "Hmmm….Have to admit that it is a legitimate strategy. Cut off the head and watch the body squirm, sounds like it'd work to me." He said, "Fine…I'll do your little dirty deed…but, I'm gonna need a few things."

"Name it…" Captain Wallace said.

"First off…a ship." Lament said, "Nothing short of a _Veria class Cruiser._"

The bear thought for a moment, "Done…anything else?"

"Well…some supplies would be nice." Lament replied, "Seeing as how this is not going to be an easy assignment…" The vulpine said picking up a notepad and pen jotting something down, "I'm going to need a few assorted weapons too; it's a short list but, it'll do." He said handing the pad to the Captain.

"This is……expensive equipment." Wallace pointed out after going over the list.

"Well…I am still a bounty hunter Captain." Lament said, "I don't do anything for free, and thanks to certain character who'll remain unnamed I lost pretty much everything I own. It's time to start over."

"Makes sense…" Wallace replied, "I'll get to work on this list right away. It's nothing compared to what you could ask for such a mission. I'll contact your quarters when your supplies are ready then."

"Good…I could use a little sleep." Lament said, "Nice meeting with you again captain."

It wasn't long after Lament found himself laying in his room, on the slab of granite that the military passed off as a mattress, and slowly faded off to sleep. Sleep was the only part of his day that the vulpine actually feared for the most part. He opened his eyes slightly, only to see the image of an old gray furred hare standing at the foot of his bed, he wore a light brown trench, and a pair of light spectacles…

"_So…you're actually going to kill me off now huh?" He said, "What next? Slippy? Falco? Maybe Katt, god only knows she couldn't put up a fight, hell a two for one sounds right up your alley."_

_Lament snorted angrily, "THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW!?! You arent' even standing there! Fuck off old man!"_

Lament suddenly woke to the sound of a familiar voice echoing through the base's PA system isolating the message in his room…

"Lament…your supplies are ready." Wallace's voice said, "You can leave whenever you feel like it."

"Good…Think I'll go now." Lament agreed, "This military bed if fucking killing my back. Keep a close watch on the old man's movements and let me know every little step he makes. This is gonna take a bit of planning."

"Will do…" The captain's voice said, "Wallace out."

Lament wasted no time in getting to his new ship, which he was led to by the Captain himself set off in it's own docking station. It was a smaller ship, quite a bit smaller than the Raven; it was built similar to the older arwing models, though much larger in size, the wings folded forward into the sides of the hull giving them the appearance of blades along the sides of the ship, it's color scheme was about the same as all arwings he'd seen before, but there were ways of changing that…

"There's no onboard AI but, other than that it's fast, reliable, and altogether a great ship."

"An AI system can be added anytime." Lament replied.

"Good…" Captain Wallace said, "Here are all the codes and such you'll need." He said handing the vulpine several small pages of information, "My men have gone over it's systems and drives, but, I'd make certain and drop it in on a mechanic just to make sure they didn't miss something."

Lament looked to the bear out of the corner of his eye, "I just might do that on my way…in fact I know just who I'll take it too."

Though the Captain had not yet given Lament a reason not to trust him, there was something about the large animal that had never sat so well with him. The ship and supplies were put together far too fast, and he was willing to accept Lament's terms far too quickly; either he was stupid, desperate, or planning something…

"Well Mr. Lament…" Wallace said, "I'll leave the rest to you then. Good luck."

As the bear turned away he was halted by Lament's voice, "Captain." He half shouted, "Fair warning…" He said looking over his shoulder putting his only good eye into view, "Nobody crosses me and lives to talk about it."

Something about the way Lament looked at the bear made a bead of sweat roll down his forehead, "Fair enough…but on a general note. Nobody crosses me and lives……period."

**-About an hour later-**

Lament made his way around his new ship, which at the moment hovered in orbit around Balmirre, waiting for the ship to reset all of it's systems to accept his voice commands and personal codes. The captain certainly hadn't given Lament much credit; ninety percent of the ship's systems were locked down, giving Lament no way of knowing whether or not he was being watched or even if the ship was being controlled by some sort of outside party, he had a way around these things however. Lament carried with him at all times a small drive disc which contained the A.I of his favorite navigator…

"MEL…" He called out as he made his way through the ship's slightly cramped halls, "How's the integration coming?"

"Total integration into ship mainframe 85 percent complete. Estimated time of completion……20 minutes."

"Good…it's nice to hear at least one voice I can trust." Lament sighed, "Too bad it's just a program. Give me a warning over the PA as soon as you're completely wired into the ship's systems. Then hard copy and wipe all the drives, reset them all to only answer to my protocol, got that?"

"Affirmative…"

Lament took this time to look about the ship; it was decent, thought a bit smaller than he was used to, but, he actually liked it. The docking bay was much smaller and located near the rear of the ship and only seemed about big enough for two to four fighters, the Raven could have held at least 20 without much of a problem. There were only three rooms on the entire ship for a crew, then again he was certain he could handle all the repairs of such a small ship himself, unless it turned out to be an issue he wasn't studied in. The bridge was relatively small, only the size of his bedroom on the Raven really, enough space for no more than six people at once, it was located at the top of the ship that formed a sort of pyramid shape; the ship had an amazingly up to date, the systems were mainly all used via a series of holographic, light sensitive panels. He liked this new system, he'd often heard of it but, he'd never really had the cash to have it installed on the Raven. His favorite room by far thought was the galley; it wasn't complicated at all like the large one on the Raven, it was small, maybe possible to seat 10…11 people at the most, it's large viewing windows were odd thought, as he hadn't see any from the outside. Looking around the ship had not taken nearly as long as he'd hoped however, but, there was one more thing that he wanted to do. He entered his new room, which he chose as being the closest one to the bridge of the ship; it was a moderately sized room, with small drawers laid into the walls where there would have been a closet. He made his way over to the small area pressing a small green button that caused the drawer to slide out showing a selection of shirts…

"Good…" He said picking up a red tee shirt, "God only knows how long it's been since I changed."

Lament happily removed a pair of dark blue jeans from a lower drawer before heading into the room's personal bathroom. It was much smaller than normal as well, only really room enough for himself at any one time. He was still however happy to feel hot water washing away the tension of his days…

"Captain…integration into ship drive system complete." MEL's voice suddenly said through the ship's PA system.

"Good…do a scan for foreign devices on the ship. Anything transmitting any kind of _Tallor frequency_…" He said.

"Full scan of ship and ship systems, estimated to take approximately 15 minutes."

Lament leaned his head back into the stream of steaming water, "Good…lets find out just how far this Wallace guy can be trusted."

**-Balmirre Captain Wallace's office-**

The captain sat blissfully at his desk, the large office around him a clear sign of his position in the military, when a voice came in through the rooms small PA system…

"Captain, you have a short range transmission from Lament." A young female voice said, "He says it's important."

The bear sighed, "Very well…put 'im through." The captain put on his happy face as Lament's picture appeared on the small screen that sprung from his desk, "Lament it's good to…." The captain's face froze as he saw the glare on Lament's face and the small chip dangling from between his thumb and forefinger.

"I thought we talked about this……captain." He growled dropping the object crushing it under his boot, "It was odd…I boarded this ship and everything seemed fine…too fine in fact. Then I did a little digging. Didn't find much, but, I did find several tracking devices on the ship, and that I was locked out of the ship's systems…the ship that you gave me." He said showing another device, "I suggest that if you want to use a leash…this fox isn't a good choice for a pet."

"Now Lament…" Wallace replied, "You have to understand that you were a bit quick to accept our agreement; I'm not fully in charge of the military, my orders come from the general himself." The animal said as his fingers skipped across a keypad in front of him.

"I'd suggest not attempting anything stupid captain…" Lament pointed out, "You see the reason I had no problems with this ship not having an AI system is that I always carry my own…just in case. He's a very handy, customized model made by one of the greatest minds in the Lylat system, so hacking his banks is next to impossible. One of the many neat little things I found on McCloud's flagship after I stole it. He found several of these after I integrated him into the systems."

"As explained earlier Lament…that was a direct order from the General himself." Wallace replied getting a bit nervous.

Lament sighed, "Well…I guess I can let this slide, seeing as you had no choice." The vulpine pointed out, "By the way I took the time to remove that message tracker from the ships com systems too…I happen to hate ease droppers." He said, "I'll call in once the job's done…Lament out."

"GOD DAMN IT!!!" Wallace screamed, the impact from his fists cracking his desk in two, he activated the room's PA system, "Jenn…get me the general, and order me a new desk."

* * *

**_Lament's official theme song_**

_Downfall - Trustcompany  
_


	4. Chapter 4

**Author Notes:**_ I'm most likely going to be doing quite a bit of work on this fic recently. I apologize if it's not that action oriented yet, but, It's still building a story. Thanks for the support, R&R, and I'll see you next update..._

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

* * *

  
_

**-Chapter 4-**

_-Wrongfully Accused-_

Lament thought carefully about how he was going to do this, he needed to get close to the Cornerian General without throwing up and warning signs. It was a problem in itself as the General of any military was considered very important, and for the most part never left whatever base they were stationed at. Peppy Hare would be no exception. He'd be guarded…heavily. It could turn out pretty badly were he to be captured, especially if they were to pin him as Lament, considering that, as far as he knew, nobody had a positive ID on him. He wasn't certain how long it would take to get in close enough to get the job done, or even how he'd do the job, but, he knew that if he were caught, they wouldn't stop to ask him any questions…

"Hmmm…looks like I've got some planning to do." He said as he stepped out of his bathroom buttoning the fly of his jeans before shaking his still wet fur a bit, "This isn't gonna be easy to pull off." He said to himself, "But first…MEL, take us home." He said sighing as he looked to the ceiling, "Please be there."

"Canceling current destination of Corneria…new destination locked; planet Sauria, ETA 2 hours 15 minutes."

**-About 2 hours later-**

**-Sauria-**

The day was early and warm as if often was in Cape Claw, where an older, blue furred vixen stood stretching her back. Bella hated admitting her age was getting to her, Cerinians lived a deal longer than your average animal, but it was something that came with her ages of experience in life. Her blind eyes looked over the landscape through the small bird perched on her shoulder as she headed out toward the familiar old well that she'd watched a certain young vulpine visit on numerous occasions. She'd promised to take care of the grave he'd planted there but, after making her way to the top of the hill that led there something startled the small bird on her shoulder causing both of them to look toward the sky. There was an odd looking spectacle that she'd become familiar with dealing with Lament and Kursed; it was the flaming body of a ship of some kind tearing through the small planet's atmosphere…

" Now who do you suppose that could be?" She asked the small bird that acted as her eyes, receiving only a small chirp in reply, "Lets go find out."

It wasn't long before she found herself on the beach again, the object that landed in the distance was clearly an arwing like Kursed's; but there was something different about it. She stopped a ways a way where she could see an unknown animal standing next to the vehicle, giving it one good hard kick…

"Fuck'n piece of shit!" His voice shouted.

There was smoke billowing out of the vehicle's engine and G-diffuser but, there was something about the voice that she heard…

"Hello?" She called, "Can I help you? Who are you?"

The animal turned to face her, "You old bitch, too senile to recognize my voice?"

The old Cerinian's eyes watered over at the playful tone in his voice, she'd begun to believe Kursed was right and that this animal had been dead for the longest time. She found herself walking toward her, seemingly not of her own free will. She found it odd that, unlike his former behavior the animal didn't push her away once she had her arms around him, rather he returned the gesture…

"I knew you weren't dead."

Lament smiled, "Confidence in my strength huh?"

"No…" The old vixen replied moving away a bit, "You're too fuck'n stubborn to die."

Lament looked to the old one, "Well…it's good to know someone missed me."

"Someone else missed you too."

The sheer mention of her made his heart stop, "Kursed?"

"Yes." Bella replied, "She was absolutely devastated when that temple collapsed. She didn't want to leave the planet at all. What's worse, I kept reassuring her that you would come back. And when you didn't…she simply grew more and more depressed, until she finally left Sauria altogether, saying she just couldn't stand being here for some reason…"

Lament thought about why she'd do such a thing, after he'd practically begged her to take care of Bella…

"Where did she go?" He asked.

"I don't know…" Bella replied, "She didn't tell me anything. Just that she couldn't stay here anymore, and apologized to me for leaving me here alone before leaving." Lament turned away from her to head back to his still smoking ship, "You've changed…there's something about you that's completely different. I may be old and blind, but, I know love when I see it."

Lament froze up as her words sunk into his head, "Bella…Do you believe in second chances?"

"She told me what you said…"

Lament pounded his fist against the hull of his arwing, "I wanted to start over, you know with a new life…" He said dragging his claws noisily across the vehicle's hull, before finally kicking it again, "I was so FUCKING STUPID!! I asked her to go with me. Then all this shit happened..." He finally turned leaning his back against his small fighter and slowly slid to a sitting position where he held his arms across the top of his head, "She must hate my guts right now."

Bella lay her paw on the animal's head, "I don't think she does…if she hated you again, then why did she leave this place?" She asked, "I think this place reminded her of you…that was why she couldn't stay here."

"I tried contacting the Raven over and over…but, the com system is down for some reason, it has been for over a month." Lament replied, "I tried everything that I could to find her…Sauria was my last option."

Bella smiled, "Think about it…you'll think of something." She said, "She's pretty famous right? People may have heard a thing or two about her here or there."

Lament thought about it, "Yeah, I guess sitting here blubbering like a school girl isn't going to make things better." He said, "I have to go find her, but, first there's something I have to do on Corneria…something important."

"A job?"

Lament smiled, "Yeah…sort of. It's a military thing."

"Is it really that important?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, it's a job. I always do my job." He said, "I'll try my hardest to find something on Kursed while I'm on Corneria. Nobody really knows my face there, but, I'd really rather not go there…I also don't wanna see this planet caught up in their stupid fuck'n war. I like it here."

"So you're saying that you can stop the war?"

Lament thought for a moment, "Yeah, I can. Maybe before it even begins. I really don't wanna worry about Kursed being out there in the middle of something like this…she's a great fighter, but, I don't think she could really handle the nastier sides to war…her telepathy just wouldn't allow it."

"True. Despite what she tries so hard to show on the outside…" Bella stated, "The child is incredibly sensitive to others' feelings; I think war would simply overload her senses altogether."

"What are you talking about?" Lament asked.

Bella sighed, "I've seen it happen on Cerinia once or twice…telepaths that are too strong for their own good. The emotional stress of the battle that forces it's way into the Telepath's mind can eventually get to them. I've seen Cerinians take their own lives in order to make the voices stop."

Lament thought about what the old Cerinian had told him, "Then I have to get going. If she's caught up in this at all, I can't let that happen to her……She's been through enough already."

"Why are you so bent on keeping her safe Lament?" Bella asked.

"I ruined her life Bella…" He replied, "I know she forgave me, but, I don't think the one I killed has…and the only way I can think of doing that is by keeping her out of harm's reach."

Bella smiled, "You're blocking again."

"Alright you persistent old bitch…I'll say it…" He finally said with a light smile, "……I love the crazy bitch okay?"

Bella smiled, "Good…now get the hell out of here. I can take care of myself while you're gone."

Lament took a look at the still smoking arwing behind him, "I'll still be here for until I can fix this thing. It seems to be some sort of electrical problem with the main thrusters, I should have it fixed in a few hours."

"Lament…" Bella said, "I'm a little worried about Kursed."

"So am I…" He replied, "Kid's got a habit of getting herself in neck deep. I wonder where she is right now."

**-The Deterrence-**

**-Katina Outer Aerospace-**

The light blue furred bounty hunter walked across the massive docking bay of one of Katina's finest battle cruisers; she wore a denim vest that was decorated with a small silver pinion on the left breast, symbolizing her temporary position of power in the Katinan air force. She was to be treated with the same respect and privilege of a captain, without overthrowing the captain's rule himself. As she walked across the docking bay several animals stopped in their place to salute her, she'd made a lasting impression letting the men of the ship know that she wasn't a woman to trifle with. She finally reached her destination, where an old friend was waiting for her. He was a dark brown furred canine, short, but, well built, he always seemed to wear his sunglasses…

Kursed removed a small barrette from atop her head as she approached him, "Captain…" She half heartedly saluted.

"Kry–-Kursed…" The animal replied signaling for her to sit, she found a small place on a work bench near where the canine was working, "I'm sorry, I still need to get used to calling you that."

"Don't worry about it Bill…" She replied, "It's good to know people still remember that side of me." She replied, "So? What's the situation?"

Bill sighed as he pulled a cigarette from behind his hear placing it between his lips, "Just the problem…we aren't sure. You've been a great help so far, but, something's come up. For some reason there's been some suspicious activity around Kew. Could be smugglers like usual, or it could be Stygian troop hoping we think it's just smugglers…" He said, "Also…"

Bill turned to several guards giving a shrill whistle, the two animal's moved from their post by the door and after leaving the room, entered with a scruffy, gray furred coyote dragging from their arms. They stopped before Bill and Krystal…

"I wanted you to be here when we interrogated this one." Bill said as the guards forced the coyote to sit on another bench opposite the ship's captain, "Caught him on his way out of Stygian. Said he was on his way to Dan'jas, but, also wouldn't give us a name or anything else."

The blue furred vixen looked at the coyote for a moment before their eyes met, she made certain to make her probe as quick and as painless as possible…

"Akuba "Dead Eye" Reiko…" She said, "Mercenary. He doesn't know anything."

Suddenly the animal struggled against the two guards, "Where's Leena you son of a bitch!?!" He was silenced by a short but hard shot to the back of his head with the butt of a rifle, it wasn't enough to knock him out, but, it was enough to get the warning across.

"Reiko…" Kursed called not getting a reply, "Akuba then…"

"Don't call me Akuba…" The coyote growled.

Kursed glared at him, "Fine, Reiko then. Why were you crossing Lylat to get to Dan'jas? Are you in affiliation with Stygian?"

"I just wanted to take her home."

"Her?" Kursed asked looking to Bill, in reply one of the soldiers holding Reiko handed the vixen a brown folder which she slowly looked through, "Hmmm…Leena McKay. Wanna explain what you're doing carting around a senator's daughter?"

Kursed realized that she'd struck a nerve when the two guards had to fight just to keep the animal seated, "THAT SON OF A BITCH SOLD HER OFF!!!" He shouted managing to rip an arm free striking the guard on his left with a punch that laid the poor animal to the floor. Reiko froze as a slight click came from a large pistol in Bill's paw…

"Boy I'd suggest you sit down right now. Cuz you hit another one of my men and I promise you will never see a judge."

Reiko pulled his other arm free before sitting down again, "Now, tell me what it is you're talking about without trying to hurt someone." Kursed said.

"Leena McKay was reported missing over 2 years ago…" Reiko replied, "About three weeks ago, I came across this job in Stygian. Some guy's daughter was abducted from their home by slave traders. Easy enough job, but, when I got back to the people that gave me the job, I found a stowaway on my ship." He said, "She's a nice kid, but, her father was going under from a mess of illegal gambling debts among some other underground expenses he didn't want the Lylat government to know about. So to make due with what he had, he sold Leena to those fucks that I killed and passed her off as kidnapped…if you don't believe me…go read her mind like you did mine…"

"Then why are you headed for Dan'jas?" Bill asked putting his gun away.

Reiko sighed, "I don't know…that's where she wanted me to take her, so that's where I was going."

"Why would you just help someone like that?" Kursed asked.

Reiko sighed again, "Money…" He said, "She promised me all kinds of it to get her to Dan'jas." Kursed glared at the animal.

Kursed's gaze never left Reiko's eyes, "Right…" She said in an unbelieving tone, "Let him go Bill. He's telling the truth."

Bill sighed, "You know I can't do that Kursed." The canine Captain replied, "Under Lylatian law…he's admitted to keeping that girl from her parents, and from what I've seen and heard of her, she's still not an adult yet. Put him back in his cell…we'll turn him over to Cornerian authorities as soon as possible."

"Bill…" Kursed said getting the animal's attention, "Either you let him go or I will."

Meeting the vixen's eyes Bill was certain that she was serious, "Fine…" He said calling for his men to let the coyote go, "You can go…but, the kid stays with us until we can find some solid proof to your claim."

Reiko sat back down, "Then so do I…" He said folding his arms across his chest, "I may be a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them. I promised her that I'd do something and I aim to…and I could care less what you or your men have to say about it…"

Bill stood up and began to head out of the room, "Fine, you wanted to let him go Kursed. He's yours to deal with. Just remember that there's a meeting in the War Room at 0900 hours about your team's mission."

"I got it Bill…" Kursed said sighing as she looked to Reiko, "You remind me a lot of someone."

"And who might that be?" Reiko asked.

Kursed's eyes fell toward the floor, "Fox McCloud…" She replied, "He was a horrible liar too." She said, "I know what you said earlier wasn't an entire lie, I know why you need the money so badly, but, why are you really helping that girl?"

Reiko sighed, "I–I don't know…" He replied, "I've only ever really looked after myself, but, for some reason…every time I look at that kid I see what I used to be when I was her age. I was just as helpless, and alone; there wasn't anyone there for me, my parents abandoned me when I was little, I don't know why, and I don't care…but…" He cut himself off shaking his head, "I don't know."

"I understand how you feel Reiko…" Kursed replied, "I was just as helpless after Cerinia was destroyed. I had no family anymore, no home to go to, nobody to care about me. You remind me of Fox in more than one way, protecting me was all he ever did from the day we met." She smiled at the remembrance.

"I thought you looked familiar…" Reiko said, "You were that Cerinian girl that joined Star Fox all those years back. You know most everyone thinks you're dead right now…"

Kursed scoffed, "Yeah. Well, Krystal's been dead for a long time. I don't really know who I am anymore…or even who I wanna be. There are some days that I just wish that I wouldn't wake up in the morning, but, we all have those days don't we?"

Reiko stood up and followed the blue vixen as she began to make her way across the docking bay again. It was odd, the vixen had clearly saved his neck from whatever capitol punishment the high council would have passed on him, and yet, she seemed like such a depressed person at the same time. He wondered what it was that had drove her to this point in her life, but, there was a part of him that was certain he really didn't want to know. As he followed the blue furred bounty hunter they stopped near a familiar looking ship; it was slightly large with a rectangular body, and had a pair of wings that angled down ward ending a few feet from the floor…

"This is your ship isn't it?" Kursed asked as an animal stopped handing her a small folder of documents, the folder was about a pocket's width while slightly long, "It's pretty well modified…but, it's also kind of a pile."

"It's been around." Reiko chuckled.

Kursed folded the folder back up sliding it into her back pocket, "Well, lets go see your friend…I'm sure she must be scared out of her mind right now."

"Yeah…she probably is." Reiko replied, "She hates cages, they kept her in one as long as those slavers held her."

As they made their way to the large blast doors to the docking bay, Kursed stopped in her place for a moment, and bent at the waist to tie her boot, "Fucking laces are always coming undone."

Reiko found himself unable to look away from the gorgeous animal's posterior, as her position made it stick out quite a bit. Suddenly however her tail waved about causing the folder in her pocket to make a slight sound. It was now that Reiko noticed that she was taking her sweet time with her boot laces, and looked about the are for a moment. He quickly reached down and pulled the folder from her pocket finding that she finished tying her laces as soon as he removed the folder. Kursed seemed not even to notice the folder was missing when she stood up…

"Well lets go see your little friend…I'm sure she needs to see a friendly face."

**-That night on Sauria-**

Lament had been forking for hours to fix the lemon that the general had left him with; there were some parts he'd have to change once he made it back to his ship, but, in all he would make it alive. He stood there as Sol set over the hills waiting for Bella to come out of the small hut to see him off, it wasn't long before the old vixen was walking along the sand…

"You sure you won't come with me?" He asked, "I hate the idea of leaving a senile old hag all by herself for too long."

Bella chuckled, "Well…eyes or no eyes, this senile old hag will be just fine for a bit longer. Just promise me you'll bring that child back here before she gets herself hurt."

Lament lowered his head as he looked over toward the old well, "I didn't get to visit her grave as much as I would've liked too."

"I'm sure she understands Lament." Bella replied, "Just keep your mind on what's most important right now."

"Peppy…" Lament uttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Bella quickly asked.

Lament shook his head, "N-nothing…just thinking about something. Do me a favor and keep your eyes and ears open for any sign of Kursed, if not I may be forced to go find her myself…before the idiot gets herself killed." He said climbing into his small fighter.

"I will…and thank you for the communicator…" The old one said waving a small device in the air, "It'll be good knowing I can reach you anytime I need to."

"Just make sure you call me if you hear something about Kursed."

"I will…now go."

Lament took no second thought in leaving the planet, there was nothing more he could do from Sauria; he didn't like the idea of leaving Bella by herself, but, at the moment there were two more important matters, and though he wanted nothing more than to find Kursed at the moment, there was a very important matter that needed his attention, on Corneria…


	5. Chapter 5

**Author Notes:**_ Well here's another chapter for Lament 2. Shattered Hopes will have another chapter up shortly, as soon as Crafty is done editing it. Anyhow hope you enjoy the chappie; Remember to R&R, and I'll be certain to post again soon. Laterz... ^_^_

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

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**-Chapter 5-**

_-Unplanned Changes-_

Lament kept his mind on his job most of the day, he wondered how he'd pull off something this big. How was he going to get to the General of Corneria without drawing to himself? True, nobody there knew his face, but, to sneak into a military base when the entire galaxy wants you dead…that was a feat in it's own accord. He spent hours going over one scenario after another until he was confident that he had found the perfect solution to his current problem and immediately called Captain Wallace…

"I see…" The bear said after listening to Lament's plan, "Quite ingenious, I can see why you've been in your line of work for so long Lament. I must admit, due to the terms of our parting last time, I was certain that it was the last I'd see of you."

Lament sighed, "Well, Captain. I am a fox of my word, if I say the job's done, it's done. I've already been paid, despite what may be said about me, I'm not that hard to get along with as long as you don't piss me off."

"Well then, I apologize once again for my lapse of judgment on your part." The captain said, "I never should have placed those devices on your ship…and as for the faulty arwing, it was the only unit of the particular model that your requested that we had on hand in such a short amount of time. It is a fairly old model after all."

Lament chuckled, "Well, captain you don't need to worry about that. With the fake Ids your boys whipped up for me, I should be able to get my plan going in about two weeks; it may take a bit of time to get it done, but like I said before I have other matters that need to be taken care of before the job itself. These things have to be handled delicately or something could go wrong."

"Hmmm…true." Lament said, "If you'd like I could send some assistance for you. Some of my men are more than…"

"I work alone Captain."

"Understood…" Wallace replied.

"Good, I'll keep in touch…" Lament said, "I'm about to cross into Cornerian jurisdiction."

"Then I'll expect your call sometime within the next…two days?" The captain asked.

Lament hummed in through for a moment, "Sounds reasonable. I'll contact you in two days with a progress report."

"Very well Lament. Good hunting." The Captain said cutting the transmission.

The Captain sat as his new desk and placed an unlit cigar between his lips, sighing deeply. He realized that he'd made a mistake long ago, but, some things often work to the opposite of our intentions. A young, very attractive black furred feline sat across from him, her long ebony hair hung over one emerald eye; her shirt was made of black leather and zipped up the middle being held up only by it's tight hold about her body leaving her abdomen in view, while her pants were of the same tight black material while dangling a long silver chain down her right thigh which she haplessly played with as she sat there. The captain lit his cigar exhaling a small could of smoke…

"Hmmm…" The feline purred, "You must have balls of solid steel to be stringing along someone like him Captain."

Captain Wallace chuckled, "You'll soon learn that people in my position have very little to fear my dear. Now, you are certain you can get the job done?"

"Without a doubt." The feline smiled.

**-Katina Outer Aerospace-**

**-The Deterrence-**

Kursed sat through another long winded meeting in the war room; Bill had pointed out that her small force, which was made up of only 10 specially trained individuals, were to infiltrate a small enemy base that had secretly been set up on the far side of one of Kew's moons. Kursed's group of animals was trained for the simple course of getting into a place completely undetected killing any in their path with minimal resistance. The mission seemed normal enough, but, the vixen was a bit hesitant to leave Reiko and his friend Leena in Bill Gray's paws; her trust in her old friends had become skeptical to say the least. Not to mention there was something about the validity of the mission itself that simply didn't seem right. She wanted to trust Bill but, something simply didn't fit, why would Stygian set up a base on a planet nobody cared about? The vixen found herself working on her ship in the docking bay when a gray furred coyote approached her while she was beneath her personal arwing…

"Kursed!!" He shouted yanking her by the tail out from under the ship, "Where is she!?!"

Kursed was on her feet in a heartbeat, practically at the animal's throat, "What the fuck are you talking about?" She demanded.

"Leena!" He shouted, "Where is she?! I went down to check on her, she's not in the brig."

"Wait…" Kursed said, "But, she was there last night…and I just checked on her this morning."

Reiko's anger softened a bit, "You really don't know about this?"

"No…" The cerulean vixen replied, "Come on, lets get to the bottom of this."

It was not long before the two found themselves scouring the ship itself for any sign of the young minx. A lone animal sitting in the docking bay had been watching them the whole time. He sat down the wrench that he held in his paw before lifting a communicator to his face…

"Captain…she knows."

**-Corneria Outer Aerospace-**

**-Lament's ship-**

Lament sat by thinking more and more into his current situation; he admitted to himself and Bella that he did love Kursed, as he thought about it maybe this was what the old man meant when he said that Lament could solve all of the young vulpine's problems…after all Fox McCloud didn't need to fully forget the woman he loved, rather there was simply a void left by her death that needed to be filled. As he thought about his situation he smiled chuckling to himself as she lightly shook his head…

"In love again…" He told himself, "…why the fuck did it have to be her?"

The thought of being with the blue vixen actually excited him on a number of levels; she was beautiful, strong, aggressive, sexy, he couldn't think of anything about the blue vixen that he really didn't like in a vixen. Thoughts of the vixen seemed to course through his mind, questions that he simply wondered the answer too. Did she love him as well? She had kissed him before they reached Uth'maria to fight Slash and Fyra after all. His thoughts shifted to what sort of hell spawn the two would end up conceiving; an animal with both their fighting skills as well as the young Cerinian bounty hunter's mental abilities was a scary thought. He laughed at himself a bit as he sat there, still waiting for his clearance after over 3 hours of waiting, then again in the current state of war the two star systems were in; he did find however that a shower always seemed to calm his thoughts when he needed it the most. It was as he stood there allowing the hot water of his shower to calm his thoughts that he looked over the mesh of scars that riddled his body. How many of them were caused by the vixen he'd recently admitted his love for? He'd lost count so long ago; some were close calls while others were simply scratches that had dug a bit deeper than he'd have liked. However his thoughts would constantly fade back to the blue furred creature that was beginning to invade his every thought…

"Get your mind outta the gutter…" He said to himself shaking his head, hoping to rattle the thoughts loose, "…you've got your own shit to worry about right now. No time to be thinking about girls right now…" He reminded himself.

Suddenly a familiar robotic voice broke over the PA speakers, "Clearance acquired for Dock C-14 north." NAV informed the captain.

"Good…" Lament replied, "Land this piece of shit." He said, "Maybe I can get some work done on this Lemon while I'm down there."

Stepping out of the ship a short time after it landed Lament made his way off of his hand-me-down ship. He was expecting nothing less than what he saw when he exited his ship, several armed soldiers, dressed for combat approached him…

"Name and ID…" One demanded.

Lament produced the phony documents that Captain Wallace had produced for him, "Sky Maddox."

"What's your purpose on Corneria Sky?" The soldier asked in a calmer voice handing Lament his papers.

"Mainly for repairs on this hand-me-down sack of crap." He replied pointing over his shoulder to the ship behind him, "Been a while since I slept in a decent bed and had a hot meal too."

"Well don't be causing any trouble…" The soldier finally said, "Laws have gotten a lot more strict around here with the war and all. Best idea is to find a mechanic and stay indoors till morning; curfew is set for 11 o'clock."

"I guess I'd better get my ass moving then huh?" Lament replied.

It was an easy enough job finding a good mechanic for the job; in a time of war people would be looking for all the work that they could to support themselves and their families. The vulpine was happy enough to find that the taxi driver wasn't much for conversation, and it was a good thing, Lament wasn't exactly in a chatty mood at that time. It was late night on the planet when he'd arrived, he was hoping to get there early in the morning but, he had no control over time…if it hadn't been for the docking authority taking their sweet time he'd have had a few hours to actually get started with his plans. The place was a ghost town. The towering skyscrapers stood casting their shadows across the city, creating plenty of places for the scum of Corneria's underbelly to hide from the soldiers that patrolled the streets. It was as he stepped out of his cab in front of a large hotel that he noticed something in the distance as it vanished into the shadows of an alley. He was nonchalantly made his way along the street until he looked into the alleyway. There was almost no way of seeing what was going on, accept for the lighter colors of the animal's furs, not to mention the fox's keen eyesight which gave him a far greater scope of what was going on…

There were only two of them; common street trash, most likely more muscle than brain. One was as far as he could tell a normal fox with slightly darker fur than his own, and long black hair…the other was definitely Kewian, he could tell as most of the time the felines from the planet had a slight accent. They seemed to have had a young light furred hare pinned to the far wall, one who, by the sound of her choked crying, was not much of a fighter at all. At first his instincts told him to walk away but, something also told him that he should help, and as he started to walk away the need to help the young animal began to overpower him until he heard the unmistakable sound of a knife being removed from a sheath. The two muggers, or rapists, turned their attention to the mouth of the alley for a moment only to see a dark chestnut furred animal standing there, the only truly visible parts of him, the white fur about his muzzle and the white clouded left eye…

"The fuck do you want?" One of them demanded brandishing a short blade at Lament.

Lament chuckled, "I came to make a bet."

"What?"

Suddenly the two froze as the gleaming surface of two long, curved blades slowly slid from their sheaths, "I'll bet you both that mine are bigger."

The fox of the two dropped his knife and quickly retreated into the shadows where he could hopefully stay away from the nut with the swords. The Kewian however quickly pulled the young hare to her feet instantly pressing his weapon to her neck. Lament simply sighed shaking his head in disgrace…

"What exactly makes you think I'm here for her?" He asked stepping forward, "Take a look at my eyes…do they look like the eyes of a person that gives a flying fuck about someone else?"

"Then what the fuck do you want with us?" The feline demanded.

Lament chuckled, "I need to let off some steam…" He said, "You've got a blade so I just assume you know how to use it, and nothing cools me off better than a good fight." He smiled, "Don't disappoint me."

The feline thought for a moment; it was clear that the vulpine before him had no intention of letting him go like he had his cowardly cohort. Finding that he could think of no way out of his current predicament the Kewian shoved the young hare to the side causing her to crack her head on the wall of the nearby building clearly knocking the poor creature unconscious. Lament looked to the hare before looking back to the feline that stood before him…

"Well now that she's out of the way…" He said.

The feline before him suddenly lurched forward only to stop in his tracks, the point of an incredibly sharp sword pressed against his throat. He was amazed that had he not stopped so suddenly the point of the weapon would have definitely killed him. The frightened cat was stunned, he hadn't expected Lament to move nearly as fast as he had; most people that talked the way the vulpine had were just that, all talk, however he found that this animal could have killed him within a moment's notice…but, why hadn't he? The feline quickly moved away swiping his weapon at Lament's face, only to retract the handle of his knife alone, the blade having been severed by a lightning fast flick of the vulpine's wrist. The Kewian stepped back dropping his useless weapon, looking at the vulpine with frightened eyes. Lament sighed disappointedly before tossing one of the swords toward the feline it's incredibly lethal point embedding itself into the stone floor of the alleyway…

"Last chance…" Lament said sternly, "…pick it up and fight, or get the fuck outta here while you can still breath."

The feline thought for a moment of picking up the sword but, realizing that Lament was poised to strike at a moment's notice the feline quickly turned and followed in the footsteps of his long gone friend. Lament pulled his other sword from the ground sliding them both back into their scabbards with a sigh…

"Not worth my time anyhow…" He said turning to the hare laying on the ground, "You on the other hand." He said lifting her into his arms, "I guess I finally caught a break. With you this job might just go over a lot more smoothly than I imagined."

*******

Her head ached terribly, she could tell she was laying in some kind of bed, but, the last thing she remembered was being attacked on the streets. Her vision was blurred to the point that she couldn't even make out the closer details in the room; all she could tell was that she wasn't alone in the room, as she could hear the other person's calm breathing. She slowly started to lift her head from the pillows only to recoil at the feeling of a blinding pain that shot though her head…

"You may not wanna move around too much." A vague voice said, her aching head causing it to seem to echo, "Pretty back concussion back there."

"Wh-where am I?" She managed to ask placing her paw on the side of her head.

"A hotel on 24th and Jamison."

She thought for a moment as she lay back down, "What happened? I was walking home…"

"You were mugged…" The stranger said, "What's your name kid?"

"Lucy…" It was as she answered that something stuck out about the stranger, who her eyes refused to focus on, "Uncle Fox?" She asked.

"Sorry kid, must have me mistaken for someone else."

Lucy glared at him a bit, "Try pulling that on someone that doesn't know you." She said causing Lament to turn to face her, the pink furred Lapin gasped at his missing eye, "What happened to you? You look so different."

"Just lay down and go to sleep…" The vulpine said, "…we'll talk about it in the morning."

It was as Lucy lay down taking the fox's advice that Lament looked back out the window; even through the years of battle, the scars on his face and missing eye, the longer hair…no matter how much he changed himself she seemed to be able to see right through him. He wondered how he was going to explain himself to her, but, then again would she really even believe what he'd have to say? As he watched through the window at the city he'd once called his home, that had fallen so far from it's once peaceful state memories began to surface…

*******

_It was a memory he hated to relive but found that he had no choice in the matter; it was the type of memory that had driven him to drink so long ago. A younger version of himself stepped out of an idling hover car outside of a large, nicely kept house. The young chestnut furred fox pulled two large suitcases from the car before an older gray furred hare stepped out beside him…_

"_Everything's gonna be okay Fox." He said setting his paw on the young fox's shoulder._

_The young vulpine looked to the ground, "How is it gonna be okay, Peppy? I've lost everyone now."_

"_You've always got us Fox…" Peppy said, "Even with Vixy and James both gone. You've still got family…besides you should have seen the look on Lucy's face when she heard you were coming to live with us for a while."_

_Fox smiled a bit wiping his eyes, he didn't want the little hare to see him crying, she was still very young and didn't react well to seeing grown men crying. He could hear the tiny Lapin's trampling footsteps rushing down the stair before Peppy even turned the doorknob to the place. He was nearly knocked over as the little one rushed into him hugging him about his waist, which at the time was about as high as she could reach…_

"_UNCLE FOX!!!" She shouted excitedly before looking up to him, "You promised you'd visit more."_

_Fox smiled as best he could, "Yeah, I'm sorry Luce. Graduation got a little complicated." He said getting a confused look from the little one, "Stuff just happened okay? Well we won't have that problem anymore, looks like I'm staying with you guys from now on." He said picking the pink furred Lapin up._

"_What about Mister McCloud?"_

_As his mind was forced to recall what had recently happened tears began to roll down Fox's cheeks, "Uncle Fox…why are you crying?" Lucy asked innocently._

"_Sometimes it's just the right thing to do kid."_

*******

Lament suddenly jolted forward nearly falling out of his seat, he looked over to see that Lucy was still sleeping and it was already morning. He wondered when he'd fallen asleep as he placed a paw over his eye; he withdrew his paw however as he felt something, and realized that at some point in his sleep he'd been crying. He quickly wiped away the tears and leaned back in his seat…

"The right thing, huh?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes:**_ Well that was fast. I couldn't sleep last night so i got to writing on Lament and the chapter seemed to blow right through. Anyhow, thanks for the support, hope you enjoy the chapter...those of you who still read this thing anyhow. Not may people seem to be interested in reading anymore, but, regardless this story as well as all my others will always be here. Thanks for the support all, R&R if you care too, and chapter 7 "Paying the Price" will be up ASAP...LATERZ..._

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

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**-Chapter 6-**

_-Betrayal- _

Kursed and Reiko made their way to the cell that had previously held the young Minx. There were no guards but, instead of an empty cell they found a rather beaten and blood canine, who slowly turned to them…

"Kay get the hell outta here." He mumbled with a weak voice.

"Bill?" She asked, "Who the fuck did this to you?"

Bill looked to the two through one swollen eye, "It was a soldier that recently came from Katina…said something about a takeover…"

"Stygian then?" Reiko asked.

"No…" Bill said, "Someone else…I was curious where the crates of supplies were coming from. Kursed you need to find out what you can about whatever Omni is. Just leave me here and get the hell off of this ship."

The blue vixen looked to the electronic locking mechanism to the cell door, "Reiko, you any good with these sort of things?"

The coyote inspected the bright glowing panel, "Hmmm…not too complicated, I can hotwire the cell door." He said quickly going to work, "Just make sure nobody's coming this could take a minute or two."

Suddenly the ship's alarm turned the entire area red as the lights went out, "Well get move'n cuz I don't think we've got that much time." She said pulling a familiar looking spear from a small holster on her thigh.

"I'm fucking working on it!!" Reiko shouted as he quickly began tinkering with the small panels wires after removing the face of the scanner.

As Kursed stood by the tip of her spear began to glow a bright red color, as flames began to rise from the head of the weapon. The runes along the long, golden shaft all began to light up as well; she could hear the thoughts of the animals gathering just behind the door and none of them seemed very friendly. Kursed turned her head once she heard the sound of arching electricity followed by the sound of the cell door opening. Bill managed to walk out of the cell where Reiko inspected the canine's injuries…

"Can you run?" He asked.

Bill grunted as he twisted his neck to either side, "Special Forces kid. I've been through worse…but, with my eye like this I can't see straight to shoot worth a shit."

Reiko smiled, "Well, guns happen to be my soft spot. Leave the shooting to me." He said.

"I'll hold you to that then." Kursed said, "Cuz we're about to have company. Get behind me." She said, "AND STOP STARING AT MY ASS!"

The blue vixen's words were followed by an intense blast of blames that exploded from the tip of her spear. The impacting ball of flames seemed to rip the blast door from it's place, creating a sort of domino effect on the small group of animals behind it, as it smashed into them. As they rushed out of the room Reiko instantly picked up the first two weapons he could find in the mass of bodies and scorched metal. Kursed stood her ground and pointed down the hall…

"I'll hold these fuckers off as long as I can…" She said, "You two get to the ship and try to find help. Bill get word to Peppy about this as fast as you can!"

"You sure about this?" Reiko asked.

"Yes!" She shouted, "Now get the fuck outta here. AND FOR THE LAST TIME STOP STARING AT MY ASS!!"

As Reiko and Bill rushed off toward the docking bay, what seemed like an endless swarm of soldiers barrled down the hall toward Kursed, who began to charge her staff again ready to defend her friends, at least long enough to get them off of the ship…

_**-Corneria-**_

_**-Lament's hotel room-**_

Lucy woke up still in a blinding amount of pain; to another animal of a higher threshold it may not have been so bad, but, she had lived a bit of a sheltered life as a Physics teacher, however, her natural stubbornness often overpowered her logical thinking. She was happy enough that she could see half way straight this time…at least well enough to make out the chestnut furred fox that still sat at the window, this time finishing off a slice of pizza as he looked through a long telescopic lens set up at the window. He swallowed his food before reaching through a box for another slice; Lucy instantly noticed the toppings as being Fox McCloud's favorite…

"There's some pizza at the foot of the bed…" He said before taking a bite of his food, "Don't worry there's no meat on it. I still don't understand vegetarians." He said swallowing his mouthful of food, "All of the tastiest things out there, are all made of meat."

Reaching into the box at the foot of the bed, after pulling up to her lap, Lucy smiled; he remembered her favorite toppings…

"You've really changed." She said, "But, you're still the person I remember."

Lament sighed, "The right situations can change just about anyone, kid."

Lucy finished off a slice of her pizza, "Then why are you still calling me Kid?" She asked, "Only Fox McCloud ever called me that."

Lament chuckled, "Yeah…Some habits, huh?" He said, "What were you doing out that late anyhow?" He changed the subject.

"I teach Physics at the Academy, a late night course for people falling behind in their normal classes." The pink furred Lapin brushed her light pink hair away from her eyes, "Corneria really went downhill after you left. Even further when they heard you'd died." She said sadly, staring at the slice of pizza she held.

Lament scoffed, "Fox McCloud was nothing but a fucking security blanket…one that nobody wanted to let go of." He said, "Nobody expected him to have his own life, as far as everyone was concerned his only life was meant to protect them." He said taking a bite of his food, "I did the poor bastard a favor."

Lucy may have been innocent in her ways, but, she had always been smart, "So that means you're Lament, huh?" She asked, "If that's true what are you doing here? Around all these people you hated protecting so much."

Lament sighed, "I don't expect you to understand Luce. I'm just here to do my job then I'll leave everyone to themselves."

"What job?"

As Lament stared through his spyglass an older, gray furred hare, wearing a light brown longcoat stepped out of a black vehicle, slowly entering a building, "Someone here needs to disappear…" He said.

Lucy sat down her food, the thought of Fox lowering himself to killing people for money didn't sit well on her stomach, "So what? You've lowered yourself to the status of some sort of assassin?"

Lament kept his sights on the hare that was no riding a glass elevator up the side of the sophisticated looking building, "Everybody's gotta eat."

"You know who you sound like right now?" Lucy asked, "Wolf O'donnell."

Lament winced inwardly, not as much at the insult itself as the fact that it was true, "Look, Kid. When are you gonna accept the fact that I don't wanna be Fox McCloud anymore? You're eventually gonna learn the truth about life…if fuck'n sucks. Nothing you ever do is gonna turn out the way you plan it, and there's not a god damned thing you can do to change that." It was as he said this that he could see tears in the young hare's eyes, "What is it now?"

"It's just…that I've really missed you all these years…" She said, "…and now that I get to see you again……I still miss you."

Lament sighed, "Sorry Luce…I just can't be the person you want me to be anymore."

Lucy thougth for a moment, "It's about Krystal isn't it?" At the mention of her name Lament turned his gaze back out the window before him, "Of course it is…it's always been about Krystal."

"Not anymore…" He replied, "…all it's about right now is getting my job done and getting off of this rock."

"Fox…why are you here? What job?" The lapin finally asked.

Lament looked back to the pink furred hare, "I'm here to take care of the General…that's what they're paying me for."

Lucy was shocked silent at what she'd heard; how could the Fox she knew actually accept such a job? Her and her father were like family. As she looked at the vulpine who went for another slice of his pizza she could feel the tear welling over in her eyes…

"You can't…" She choked.

"If not me now, it'll just be someone else later." Lament replied, "Like it or not the old man has a price on his head now, and even if it hurts to say it his days are numbered."

It didn't take many words to get her fear to falling, "But, you made everyone believe you were dead. Can't you do the same thing for daddy?" She asked, "He's just and old man, he doesn't have that long left to begin with."

Lament sighed as he kept his eye on the building the hare had gone into, "Yeah you're right, you can see it when he walks or even gets out of a car. He has a bad back, a limp in his left leg, and his eyesight getting worse than ever."

"He's already had surgery on his eyes twice, and he's got a bad heart." Lucy said trying to force the tears to stop, "You can't do this…please don't take him from me, he's the only family I have."

Lament sighed, "There's a lot more to this than you may think."

"More?" Lucy half yelled, "Marcutial Pheonix, Doctor Fisk Porter, Senator Fin. Any of those names ring a bell?"

"Yeah…I killed 'em all." Lament replied, "But it's like I said, there's more to it than that. People die, it's a natural part of life."

He was certain that she had replied with some sort of smart ass remark but, at the moment the vulpine's attention was drawn to something in the corner of the room. He could see it as clearly as it was the day it'd happened. A much younger form of Peppy stood over a younger teenaged vulpine that sat, crying in a chair in the corner. It was the day the young fox had learned that he no longer had any family, his beloved father had died, betrayed by one of his best friends. Lament's attention seemed to fade off into the thought of the scene…it was the very same position he was about to put the young lapin through, it was a feeling he didn't want to remember, but, it seemed that his old drinking habit was the only thing holding these thoughts back for all the years. Maybe these recent images, or hallucinations, or whatever they were, were his old self trying to remind him of the pain he was causing to others, even people he knew he still loved like family…

"Lucy…" He finally said, "…I want you to come with me."

"What are you talking about?" The pink furred bunny asked.

Lament stood up putting away his spyglass, "There's something you've gotta see for yourself."

Lucy struggled against her aching head to stand up, "Where are we going?"

"To the Vector building across the street to see the old man."

*******

Lucy had been inside the building several times before, but, this time she was extra nervous as she was aware that if Lament was caught and recognized for who he was, they'd most likely kill him on sight. The place was massive, actually one of the three largest skyscrapers on Corneria; it was owned and functioned by the military and was the very place where her father's office was. The insides were something that Lament had not seen in years and was saddened to see that nothing had changed; there was still a long red carpet that led through the lobby in a large circular pattered around the city crest, there were potted plants that kept air in the place suffocatingly fresh, and there were still several photos of the Star Fox team on the walls. The only difference he noticed was a massive water fountain in the central hub of the round lobby, it's three tiered basin was set in marble with elaborate designs about it. It was as he approached it that he noticed the image of a sculpted arwing on the top of the thing, and a golden plaque that read; _In loving memory of Fox and James McCloud. Two men that gave their lives so that many others may live_. It was a beautiful fountain but, the sight of the thing made his snort displeasingly at it as they two walked by. They approached a desk where a young collie girl sat…

"Lucy?" She asked, "Your father's been worried sick about you. Where have you been?"

"I ran into trouble on my way home from the class last night." Lucy replied, "Then this guy helped me. I wanted daddy to meet him." She said, something about his tone earlier had told her that he had no intention of killing the old man.

"Well he's still up there for now go on up." The collie said, "And I don't know who you are…but, thank you. She really is the only thing that keep that old bastard alive."

Lament scoffed, "Hmm…good to know."

Lucy chuckled at the vulpine as they entered the elevator, the very same elevator he'd taken up to the office so many times before. He pressed the same button he always had to see the general but the pink lapin stopped him…

"Umm…they moved daddy's office to the 61st floor a few years ago."

Lament chuckled at himslef, "Oh…" He said pressing the corresponding button.

Lucy was a bit unnerved by the fact that he didn't say much, but, she expected he was going through a lot as he hadn't been home in more than five years. He'd never really been up to the 61st floor of the building before, it really was only several more floors before the top. However, it didn't matter, the halls were all the same drab, dull, boring replicas or one another they'd always been. Lament stepped out of his small, moving glass cell, following Lucy along the halls until they stopped at a single mahogany door. She quickly turned the knob and walked in…

"LUCY!!" A familiar old voice shouted as the old man made his way to his daughter hugging her worriedly, "Where have you been?"

"I got mugged last night on my way home." She said, "But, he saved me."

Peppy followed the young lapin's direction to the vulpine that shut and locked the door behind him. The old hare's eyes squinted behind his glasses…

"My god…" He said in disbelief, "…Fox?"

It was in that moment that the two hares noticed the pistol that Lament pulled from behind his back. It was a large silenced weapon that he pointed at the old man without hesitation…

"Sorry friend." He said, "Name's Lament."

The shot drug the old hare back a few steps before he clutched at the bleeding wound, falling to the ground. The young pink furred lapin that had just witnessed her father's murder was stricken completely immobile with instant grief; she couldn't move or even say anything. She could only kneel down at her father's side until she could feel the murderer's shadow looming over her. She recoiled at the sight of the weapon in his paw, and again at the stern look on his face. He could never be the Fox that she knew, he was a monster in her eyes, a heartless thing that had taken away the only family she had in the world. She jolted a bit as the vulpine bent down pulling her into a caring hug…

"I'm sorry, Kid."

As she heard his words there was a burning sensation in her chest which caused her eyes to go wide as Lament began to pull away from her. There were tears in the poor thing's eyes as he lay her head on the floor next to her father. There was no room for remorse as he stood up placing his weapon back where he'd kept it hidden in the first place. The pink one had been the perfect bait for the job, after all what father wouldn't want to meet the animal that saved his beloved little girl's life? Lament sighed as he rode the elevator down to the lobby again, he knew how long it would be before they would find the bodies but, by that time he'd be long gone…

It was as he headed out of the lobby that the collie from earlier called to him, "Leaving already handsome?"

Lament smiled, "I'd love to stay, but I've got places to be." He said making his way to the receptionists desk, "Here. Call it a gift." He said placing something in the collie's paws.

With that done Lament made his way out of the building opening up a link on his communicator, "Wallace?"

"Lament? I hope you have good news." The captain's voice came back.

"Job's done. They should find the body in about an hour, when he doesn't come out of his office to leave for dinner."

The bear laughed through the communicator, "Good, I expected nothing less. Hurry back so we can reward you properly."

"On my way."

As the bear sat in his office, he smiled closing the link with Lament's communicator. Across from him were two of his guards holding up a beaten and bleeding blue furred vixen by the arms…

"This is the one that helped those two escape the Deterrence, Sir." One of the animals said.

"Then she knows too much." He replied standing up and walking over to the unconscious vixen pulling her hair to get a better look at her face, "Pretty little thing though isn't she?" He asked, "Throw her in the brig with the minx until we can find out what to do with her, then make room for our guest. He'll be here shortly."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author Notes:**_Sorry that this fic isn't as action oriented as the first but, I guess there's a limit to just about everything right? Anyhow there's about to be a whole lotta death and stuff flying about anyhow. On another note CoF2's next chappie should be up by the end of the day if not tomorrow evening so. Thanks for reading, R&R, and thanks for all the support..._

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

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**-Chapter 7-**

_-Paying the Price-_

_**-Balmirre-**_

_**-The Next day-**_

Though he was in no real hurry to get there, Lament soon found himself pulling into the base where several animal waited for him in the port he was meant to land in. One of the two guards rushed up to him after landing…

"Sir, the Captain wants to see you."

"Yeah yeah, I'll head to his office right now." Lament replied walking out of the room.

The port he'd landed in was a short drive or a slight walk from the base itself, but, luckily he found that there was a vehicle waiting for him outside; unlike any other placed that had picked him up though, this was a personal vehicle, driven by a very attractive black furred feline. The vulpine half smirked at the thought of his escort before climbing into the vehicle. It was odd however, despite her constant glances over at him, she never said anything, or even started to. She simply drove, and it wasn't long before Lament found himself stepping out of the vehicle…

"Thanks for the ride." He said.

"Any time handsome." The feline replied before driving away.

As he made his way through the building, Lament thought to himself; the place was far too plain, there were no pictures, no plants, nothing like the building he'd been in on Corneria…there wasn't even a carpet, just metal walls and floor, it seemed more like some sort of underground facility than anything else most of the time. Every so often he'd pass a random animal or two that had something to say to him but, it was mainly all the same crap he always heard when people had a hard time believing that he was who he was. He was happy to finally reach the captain's office where he stopped before knocking on the door…

"Come in Lament…we have a lot to talk about." Wallace's voice echoed from the room.

The place was all the same as well; there was a large, lacquered, wooden desk that almost seemed to shine in the room's dimmer lighting, there were a few bookshelves about the place, but, most of all he realized that the captain's seat was turned about, and Wallace himself stood idly beside it. An unfamiliar voice finally called from the other side of the chair…

"Have a seat Mister Lament…"

As Lament took his seat in the chair provided the animal in the Captain's seat spun to face the vulpine; it was a hound, it almost looked like General Pepper, if not for his younger appearance and lighter brown fur…

"It is an honor to finally meet you Lament." He said, "I am General Shears. Captain Wallace was my fill in while I was away. I take it your mission was a success?"

"Of course it was…" Lament replied.

Shears interlaced his fingers as he lay his paws on his desk, "That was what concerned me the most when the Captain here informed me that you'd be working with us." The general said unfolding a small brown folder under his paws, "I did a little digging since I have a very curious nature, and guess what I found…"

Lament simply sat there he didn't like where this was going…

The General pulled out several small Photos laying them out across the desk in front of him, "Senator Darius Fin, Doctor Jerald Fisk, Professor Phoenix, Even the late, great Fox McCloud. All animals killed by you Mister Lament…" The canine pointed out, "I was curious as to why you had such a problem with killing for money when you are so very good at it." He said, "Then it dawned on me one day while I was away from the base. I found a particular newspaper article to be, odd. See, it spoke of a recently deceased man living on Kew, one of the lesser cities far off from the common places one would find important people. His name was Vincent Draq."

Lament crossed one leg over the other as he listened…

"Oddly enough, at first I didn't notice much as being off…until I saw the man's photo. It struck an amazing resemblance to a very unusual name…" He said, "…and that led me to start searching for answers, and then I found one." He said, "The man called Vincent Draq…was never born. No record of his existence in the archives at all. So I dug a little deeper and found something amazing, the man's real name was none other than Darius Fin."

Lament's paw as already on the handle of his knife as he kept listening…

"Apparently the good Senator survived your hit, and was safely hidden away where he lived for a short while, until a motor accident took the poor man's life." Shears said, "At first it wasn't that big a deal, people make mistakes after all, one missed shot was nothing to break a sweat over; but, then I thought to myself. What if this wasn't a coincidence? So I started digging again…" Shears said, "And guess what I found?"

Lament simply sat there listening to the allegations…

"Several months ago another mystery man showed up in a city morgue, stabbed to death in the heart of a small city on Macbeth." He said, "Further digging placed the man as being none other than Professor Martial Phoenix. Isn't that simply odd?"

"Downright fuck'n insane." Lament agreed.

"And again after doing a bit of searching I fond that another mystery man showed up not even in Lylat, but, this time in the Dan'jas system on Nattix." The General said, "He was arrested for some reason or other, could really care less why…but, found out his real name was once Tyrius Marks…the leagally changed name of one Doctor Jerald Fisk." Shears said, "Now, something else struck my mind. If you didn't kill any of these men? Whatever happened to Fox McCloud?" He said with a smile.

Lament was out of his seat in a flash but was instantly pinned to the General's desk by the large bear that stood by. The General slowly pried the knife from Lament's grip and inspected it…

"As I thought…" He chuckled, "It's been quite a while hasn't it Mister McCloud? Since all those years ago on Titania?" He said, "Who would have ever guessed that the one man that every animal in Lylat want's dead more than any other animal alive…is none other than their little hero?" The General said looking to Wallace, "See to it that he has a personal space in the brig…till I can think of some proper use of him."

*******

Far off in a darker side of the base, two guards dragged a blue furred vixen to her cell, casting her limp body inside, a young white furred minx quickly rushed to help the beaten and bloodied animal. As the iron barred door to the cell was shut once again, the two gurads turned to another animal that stood nearby; he was a slightly tall iguana who pulled a communicator from his pocket…

"Well?" A voice said from the other end of the device.

"Nothing, Sir. If she knows anything, she won't talk."

There was a moment of silence, "And what of the…so called Lament?"

"Nothing so far…" The reptile replied, "From what I've heard he won't say a thing even with the Captain beating him half to death."

*******

Lament sat in a heavy metal chair with his paws cuffed to it, while the good Captain sat by watching a familiar wolverine have his way with the poor vulpine. Lament's mouth bled from several cuts and his damaged gums, his nose bled and was possibly broken, and so far his missing eye was swollen shut. The wolverine threw one final punch that raddled the vulpine's vision, however, after spitting out a sizeable spot of blood Lament chuckled…

"If I wanted a kiss…" He said, "…I woulda called your mom."

The vicious little animal chuckled as he turned around, almost immediately spinning into a kick that leveled both vulpine and chair, Lament spent what energy he could to look at the wolverine's face…

"You're the first one's gonna die once I get outta these cuffs." He said.

The captain finally sighed, "Just get this piece of shit outta my sight."

Two guards made their way into the room and lifted the vulpine back up, uncuffing him from the seat. However, as soon as Lament's paws were cuffed behind his back the animal lurched out at the wolverine that had been beating on him. Without so much as a moment of hesitation the vulpine's arms rotated against his shoulder sockets quickly dislocating and re-locating with his paws now in front of him. The wolverine saw none of it coming, as Lament's movements were so fast that the guards had no time in which to stop him. Lament quickly flipped over the unsuspecting wolverine catching the chain of his cuffs under the animal's chin, and as he landed Lament pulled with all the force left in his body. Then animal's neck let out a shrill crack as his body was tossed over the vulpine's shoulder, moments before a solid object struck him in the back of the head causing him to instantly fall to the floor…

"I…warned…him." The vulpine barely managed to say.

Captain Wallace strode to the beaten animal's side, "Still with that mouth of yours…" He said hoisting Lament to his feet and tossing him into the soldiers' arms, "Take him to the brig…and keep the cuffs on. If he fights back don't waste any effort just shoot him."

Hearing this Lament of course did not fight back as the two dragged him down the halls, but, he hardly made it any easier on them. Keeping as much dead weight on them as possible; as they finally dragged the beaten animal into the brig Lament tried to look around only to find that there was little he could see through his heavily beaten and swollen face, he could tell that he wasn't the only person staying in this particular area…

The two animals roughly tossed Lament into his new room, causing him to land on his side hard enough to take the air from his lungs. The two seemed to laugh at him a bit as they walked out of the room. Lament found his way to his feet, and with a grunt of pain pulled one of his thumbs until he heard a loud pop. His now dislocated thumb allowed him to easily slip his paw out of his restraints where he then pulled the appendage back into place. It was as he stood there that he heard someone moving in the cell next to him…

"Lament?" A young voice asked, "Was that you?"

The voice was that of a young minx he'd met only a few days ago, "You alright Leena? Did they hurt you?"

"Only a little." The minx replied, "Where's Reiko?"

"He's in good paws at the moment."

"You looked pretty bad when they brought you in here…are you gonna be alright?"

Lament sighed as he leaned against the wall sliding into a sitting position, "Trust me kid……I've been through worse."

There was a silence for a few minutes, "What are they gonna do to us?"

Lament sighed, "You want the truth? Or the stuff that's easier to accept?"

"The truth would be nice." Leena replied.

Lament's head fell back as he looked at the ceiling, "Probably kill us. I know the animal that's leading these freaks…he's not a pleasant person."

Leena sighed, "I was afraid of that." She said.

"There a blue vixen in there with you right now?" Lament asked, "About 5'5, nice figure, long scare across her muzzle?"

Leena paused for a moment as she checked the unconscious animal in the room with her, "Yes…but, she's been unconscious for hours."

"Yeah but she's a tough girl she'll live…" The vulpine said, "Just make sure she's okay."

*******

Hours seemed to pass like days unto themselves, and despite their hunger there was no such meal for the two animals as Kursed was still to wake. It was however as Lament sat there that a familiar canine entered the room. The General held a small object between his fingers…a bullet, one of Lament's bullets…

"Interesting little piece of ammunition you've developed here…" He said pulling a small chair close to the bars and sitting down, "Hydroterathinbenzydrene injection encased in a large blood capsule; impact from such a round would look real from any angle…we found them in all of your weapons. My only question is, how did you pass it off to the public without giving yourself away?" Lament remained silent, "You know none of this has to happen? Just tell me what I need to know and you'll be freed. You can go about this fabricated existence you seem to enjoy so much….what do you say?"

Lament smiled for a moment, the idea did sound pretty sweet, but, in an instant the General wiped the saliva from his eye, "I guess I can take that as a 'no'…" Shears said, "That's too bad really. I was under the impression that Lament and I could see things on the same level…but, I can see that at least some part of that miserable animal is still in there with you." He said walking away and stopping just outside the door to the bring, "Bring the white one to my office, and make certain that Lament is given no food or water for…two days. Lets see if that doesn't loosen up his tongue a bit."

Lament found that Leena was much tougher than she let on, most girls would have put up a much greater fight being led from a cell by two armed guards…but, the minx didn't say a word. It was now that Lament was left to his thoughts, he wondered if things would pan out the way he thought they would; he wanted to believe that there was a way out of this situation but, for the most part he simply hoped that the blue vixen in the cell next to his wasn't dead…

Almost twenty minutes passed and there was still no word or sign from Leena. However, Lament was happy enough to hear the sound of movement in the cell next to his own…

"You alright over there?" He asked after a short while.

Kursed managed to pull herself into a seated position against the wall that separated the two cells, there was a horrible pain in her arm, and her face was terribly beaten, "No. I'm pretty sure my arm's broken…who the hell are you?"

Lament sighed, "Don't really think it matters…we're all pretty much dead aren't we?"

Kursed looked at her feet, "Yeah…I guess it doesn't really matter…does it?" She asked, "So what the hell are you in here for?"

Lament scoffed, "Did my job a little half assed…"

"Huh. That sounds like someone I know." The blue vixen sighed.

He wanted so badly to tell her that it was him, but, giving Shears the idea of using her against him was the last thing he wanted, and he was certain they were being watched, "Well if you're lucky maybe someone's out there looking for you right now. I seriously doubt anyone'd be looking for me…"

Kursed sighed, "Nobody's looking from me…" She said, "Everyone I ever care about ends up dead…seems like I'm meant to be alone."

"I don't really think anyone's really meant to be alone…" Lament said, "…just seems like fate has a way of fucking certain people over."

It was as she kept listening to the strange animal's words that memories of both Fox and Lament began filtering through her mind. She was such a fool not to see past the shell that Fox had created to keep others away from himself, the memories made her eyes burn as tears began to roll down her face. Lament could hear her sniffle a bit…

"You okay over there?"

Kursed tried her hardest to wipe away her tears, "It just hurts to remember sometimes."

"Yeah…sometimes…" Lament replied.

Her actions, even from the other side of the wall, made him think of his lost love. She'd always been so kind and loving, and very sensitive to others' feelings. Not wanting Kursed to be like this, Lament moved over to the iron bars of the front of his cell, reaching his paw through over to her cell. Kursed could barely see his paw moving when she decided to move over to it. She hesitated but, took his paw for a moment…

"Nice meeting you, Kid."

Kursed's tears stopped for a moment, his mind felt so familiar she knew she'd have to try at least once…

"_Lament?"_ Her voice echoed into his head.

"_Try to keep quiet…"_ He replied, _"…if Shears finds out we know each other. He won't hesitate to use you to get to me."_

"_There are so many thing I wanna tell you…I…"_

"_Don't…I have things I wanna say too, but, they'll have to wait…okay?" _Lament assured her, _"I know it's hard, but…"_

"_No…"_ Kursed replied, _"I understand. We need to concentrate on getting out of here. You have any ideas?"_

Lament sighed_, "Not many…but, I've always got a trick or two up my sleeve. You wear'n a bra right now?"_

"_What does that have to do with anything?"_

"_Don't make it too suspicious, but. There's a support wire…pull it out and pass it through the bars."_

It only took a moment before Kursed reached back between the bars shaking Lament's paw again. Leaving the wire in his paw…

"It was nice talking to you…"

"Likewise…" Lament answered.

It was a thin wire, but, it was still something he could work with, it was a trick he'd seen his father use before. It took only a short while to pick the other side of his cuffs. He kept hold of them as he was certain that they'd come in handy later. The next part of his plan without a doubt what he considered the hardest…waiting for Leena to be returned to the cell with Kursed. He figured he'd simply pick the lock, and then get the three of them out of the facility. It was a long, hard wait before the was escorted back to her cell, the young minx was in no better shape than the two of them had been previously, there were tears in her eyes but, for the most part she didn't seem to be crying…

Lament could only guess what they might have done to her. As the guards stood there for a moment they chatted about something the General had told them about, having their way with the prisoners, and since they weren't leaving the girls' cell he could only guess what the sick fucks were thinking. The two of them soon disappeared into the other cell; Lament took this moment to rush to his cell door and quickly began fiddling with the lock. His makeshift lockpick was crude but, after working for a moment he could hear the tumblers fall into place and slid the door open. The two guards were standing there studying the two girls before one felt something brush against his side. He turned for a moment only to see the barrel of his own blaster overlapping his eye. Like any blaster the only remnants of the shot were seen as a smoking hole in the animal's skull. Before the second soldier could remove his blaster from it's holster he found Lament's weapon pressed against his head…

"Drop it…and every other weapon you're carrying."

The raccoon swallowed the lump that formed in his throat before dropping his blaster. He then unstrapped the assault rifle from his back dropping it next to the blaster, and a small combat knife. It was after the two stood up that Lament looked to Kursed…

"Kursed give me your arm."

The vixen didn't hesitate to move over to him offering him her broken arm. He took a moment to study it before looking to the blue furred vixen…

"Just don't scream…" He said, "…just suck it up okay?"

Kursed gave him an unsure nod before he quickly jerked the broken bone back into place; the only thing that kept Kursed from scream was the fact that she wouldn't open her mouth. After a moment she finally pulled her arm back…

"There do whatever healing you can now." He said looking to Leena, "Can you use a blaster?"

"I'm not the greatest shot there is…"

"I didn't ask if you were any good." Lament replied, "As long as you can point that thing without putting a hole in the back of my head you're fine. Kursed what about you? Arm gonna be an issue?"

The blue vixen was having a hard time not simply telling him everything she knew…but, what would his reaction be to her being the animal he'd ruined his entire life over? To forget about her he'd turned himself into everything he'd ever fought against. How could she openly tell him how she felt? To tell him that she still loved him, when she had fallen in love with this figment of himself that was nothing like the Fox McCloud she loved. She was distracted by her thoughts for a moment until she heard a familiar voice again…

"Yo! Kursed…"Lament called, "You awake or what?"

"Yeah I'll be fine." She said, "I'm just a little happy you're okay."

Lament smiled, "Thanks…it's good to know at least one person out there doesn't want my head on a platter."

"Don't tempt me…" The vixen replied.

Lament chuckled a bit, "Wouldn't dream of it."

Kursed picked up one of the guards' rifles, "So…was this on a fly? Or do you actually have a plan this time?"

Lament laughed a bit to himself, "I've always got a plan…"

_**-Corneria-**_

_**-several hours ago-**_

A small room, cut off from the city altogether; the General of Corneria, along with his daughter Lucy both sit at a small table, where they consult several animals. Two being senators and the others being important political figures in the Trinity Accord…

"General we have this for you…" One said passing a small disc to the General, "…it was left with your secretary the day you and Lucy the other day by a strange fox."

Peppy sighed deeply, "Could you please leave me and my daughter alone to think for a moment."

One senator; a light golden furred collie nodded, "I understand…we will wait until you feel you're ready to continue he meeting."

After all the animals left the room Peppy handed the small disc to Lucy, who walked to a small screen at the far end of the round room. After activating the monitor, it began to play the recorded message on the disc. Peppy was expecting no one else as he witnessed the animal that had called himself Lament on the screen…

The vulpine sat there for a moment before turning his eyes away from the recorder, "Peppy……Luce. First off, I'm sorry…I never wanted anyone to find out about this. You have to understand though, that I didn't want that life anymore, and I also didn't want every place I went to be filled with the same shit I'd heard in the bars. McCloud the deserter, the traitor, the lowlife…what did I do to deserve everyone that I cared about to treat me like that? Fell in love? Was it really so wrong, that I wanted to live my own life for once? You've heard it all…" The recording said turning it's eyes back toward the screen, "I love both of you more than anything. Peppy you were like a father to me when my own died, and Lucy, you were the little sister I never had. Peppy, you once asked me what I'd give up for Krystal, how much I loved her. Well…truth is, even after everything that's happened…I love her more than anything in this life or any other. I'd like to say that she isn't the reason I left but……well….forget it. Listen, after all of this is done, and you finish viewing this message, chances are I'll be in a lot of trouble on Balmirre. I don't know what their planning, but, it's no military operation, it's underground and something big. They won't be expecting an attack from the Cornerian armada right now, not if we play it off so that everyone believes you're really dead. I'll do what I can from inside their HQ, but, that's about all I'll be able to do. Just don't come looking for me to come back…" He said, "…this is my new life now, Lament is who I am until I feel I don't need him anymore…and I'll continue to be Lament until the day I find what I'm looking from. Give my love to Slip, Falco, and Katt…and visit mom's grave for me, I don't get the chance much anymore………good bye……"


	8. Chapter 8

**Authors Notes:**_ Well here's chapter 8, as always hope you enjoy it. Anyhow, I may be off on a slight spout of hietas here soon thanks to a good chance of me changing locations. If i do not update soon enough, since i have a chapter ready on COF2 it is likely becuase my new place does not yet have internet...so please hold off the pitchforks and torches for now. Thank you..._

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

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**-Chapter 8-**

_-Misfire-_

As the three cautiously headed down the halls, Lament suddenly stopped…

"Either of you know where we are in respect to the docking bay?"

Kursed looked to Leena and shrugged her shoulders, "Haven't got a clue."

"Well fuck…" Lament swore at the situation, "…maybe we were better off in the cells." As he said this his paw felt the missing place at the small of his back, _"And that sick fuck has dad's knife…"_ He finished to himself, _"That's not important right now though…I need to get these two out of here."_

"Lament…" Kursed's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "…what are we gonna do?"

Lament thought for a moment, "I'll find some unlucky bastard around here, and while I keep him quiet you scan his mind for everything we need."

"What about our weapons? I don't wanna leave my spear with these assholes."

"I understand that Kursed…" Lament replied, "…but, right now we need to get the fuck outta here. We can concentrate on our weapons later. Chances are this isn't the last we'll see of these fuckers anyhow."

"…but." Kursed started.

"Kursed!" Lament rose his voice a bit, "Isn't it enough that we're alive right now? If we stick around here just because of a few sharp objects we're gonna die, I can guarantee you that…so just do me a favor and for now let it go. I promise I'll get your spear back, okay?"

Kursed thought for a moment, Lament was right, now wasn't the time to be thinking about trivial items that they could come back for when time served them a bit better. At the moment however their greatest priority was getting off of the planet alive. The blue vixen stopped for a moment…

"You're right lets just get the hell outta here."

Lament took a breath, "Alright we're gonna head down the first main hall we can find. If either of you see anyone, take 'em out before they can make a sound…"

Lament then began to lead the two down the halls; somewhere in the back of Kursed's mind, Krystal seemed to scream out to the one that walked in front of her. She wanted so badly to tell him who she really was…but, what if he already knew? What if this was simply his new life? And he wanted nothing to do with his past? It wasn't until she thought about all of this that she realized just how much the vulpine before her changed, no wonder why she didn't recognize him; along with his missing eye, longer hair, and unkept fur, he wasn't even a shadow of the fox she once knew. Yet…he moved and even motioned like Fox, she realized that she was so obsessed with killing Lament, that she'd never even noticed the slight subtleties that paired him to Fox, but, she'd watched him shoot an innocent animal on Corneria; if he really did end the animal's life, could he really be the same fox that she knew? Her mind swam with thoughts of the sort as they made their way along the halls until Lament called for them all to stop by holding up his paw to the two girls behind him…

As they all came to a halt, Kursed noticed that Lament took a short moment to look down a hall. At a younger looking wolverine; Lament noticed the similarities to the one he'd killed moments before being thrown in the brig, yet this animal was a bit taller, and no where near as bulky the animal he'd killed. The wolverine rounded the corner only to have lament whip the animal around pinning it to the wall. The poor creature began to scream before the barrel of a rifle was jammed into it's open mouth…

"Make one fuck'n sound…" Lament growled, "…I dare ya."

To let Lament know that his point was understood, the wolverine quickly closed it's muzzle around the barrel…

"Good…" He said, "…I'm gonna take this gun away from your mouth, then you're gonna tell me where the docking bay is. Got that? I'd rather not, but I swear right now that if you say one word unless I say so and you're dead got it?"

The creature slowly nodded holding a small magazine to it's chest. Lament slowly removed the rifle only to have the wolverine spit in an attempt to get the taste of gunpowder out of it's mouth. The look on the animal's face was enough to melt a hold in steel as it studied the vulpine in front of it…

"You got a problem?" He asked.

The animal simply stared Lament down, "You killed my brother…" It said in a feminine voice, filled with the sting of hatred.

Lament hadn't even taken the time to notice it was a 'she' before pinning it to the wall, "Yeah that's my luck…" Lament replied, "…I'm always pissing women off. In retrospect, your brother did try to kill me. If that's not legitimate cause to kill someone in your book then I'm afraid you just need to sort out your priories sister."

Kursed took a moment to step between them, "Look…just tell us where the docking bay is alright? If I have to I'll pry it out of your mind myself but, I'd rather you just told us, so this is your choice…but let me warn you. Forcing my way into your thoughts is a lot less then comfortable."

The wolverine snorted angrily, "Fine…it's on the main floor. The elevators are down the hall until you come to a four way intersection then to your left and at the end of the hall…"

Kursed looked to Lament, "Second intersection, and it's a right. She was leading us to the soldier's barracks."

The wolverine's eyes went wide with surprise as the barrel of Lament's weapon was firmly pressed into her chin from underneath, "You really do wanna die that badly don't you?" He asked, "My little blue friend here happens to be a telepath you know? She can read you just as well as any polygraph can."

The wolverine looked shocked but pointed down the hall again, "Okay, like she said. Down the hall, right at the second four way, then down to the main floor, from there it's near the left side of the base…under pretty heavy guard most of the time."

Lament sighed, "Yeah…I was afraid of that." He said, "Then again, there's no way I was actually planning on going there. After all, that's right where the good General is expecting me to go isn't it?" He asked, "Which is exactly why I'm going there."

"Why?" Kursed asked.

"Cuz if he's smart enough to know that I'd go there…" The vulpine pointed out, "…he'd be smart enough to realize that I just might not. He'll split whatever forces he has available and cover every possible escape route but, with smaller force."

Kursed looked to Lament, "Then what are we going to do?"

"Simple…" Lament smiled, "…first. We're gonna make sure she can't follow us." He said striking the wolverine in the side of the head with his weapon laying her unconscious, "Now, here's what we're gonna do." He said as they cautiously headed down the halls following the wolverine's instructions, "First thing after we get there, you two are gonna hide. Then I'm gonna create a distraction and you're both gonna make a run for my ship, I'm sure they moved it here; it's a TJ-x300 looks a lot like an arwing, just a bit larger."

"What are you going to do?" Kursed asked.

"What I do best…" He said walking down the halls, "…like I said though, just get there and find a place to hide."

Lament didn't like what he was doing but, he had no choice but to leave the two girls alone, there was nothing more he could do so far. As he made his way down the halls Kursed and Leena made their way to the docking bay…they managed to get through the doors and behind some crates out of sight of the small mass of animals that guarded the room. Lament had been right, there were nowhere near as many animals in the room as she'd expected, the General had split his troops. It was as they hid that Kursed reached out for Lament's mind, it was so much easier knowing who he used to be, even though the feel of his mind was so much different now it was still familiar, especially when he'd let her in. The blue vixen looked about the room as she heard his voice, he'd always known when she was in his head…

"_How many?"_

Kursed took a moment, _"About……12, maybe 15."_

"_Good…not too many. My ship's the one on the far left…"_

Kursed thought for a moment, _"I thought you hadn't been do the docking bay. How do you know where your ship is?"_

"_Cuz I'm looking right at it." _His voice replied, _"Look around…see the wolf on the far end of the bay? The black one with the scared face?"_

Kursed looked, _"Yeah I see him."_

"_Good…once he goes down make a run for my ship." _He said, _"I'll draw their fire…then you two get the hell outta here, I'll catch up after I leave these fucks a little present."_

"_I'm not leaving you here…" _Kursed's voice rang in his head.

"_You ain't got much of a choice. I can't handle these guys while I worry about you two, so get the hell outta here and I promise I'll be there soon."_

"_I can handle this…"_

"_I'm not saying you can't Kursed…" _Lament replied, _"…but look at that kid with you. Her paws are shaking and she'd damn near crying, you can handle it but she can't…I doubt she's ever really pointed a gun at any living thing her entire life."_

Kursed hadn't even noticed the poor animal next to her was doing everything in her power to keep the weapon in her paws from rattling, she was biting her loser lip, and breathing a bit heavily, while beads of sweat gathered on her fur. The blue vixen could even see the tears welling up in the young Minx's eyes. She really wasn't used to this, Lament must have noticed it right away with the way the girl had reacted when she first put her paws on the weapon, Fox had always been able to tell when someone had a killer instinct or not. Maybe Fox really was still in there somewhere…

"_Yo Kursed you still there?"_

She'd been so lost in thought that she didn't even realize that he'd been trying to say something to her, _"I said, do you understand?"_

"_Yeah…I understand. I'll get Leena out of here, but I swear…you'd better keep you fuck'n word."_

Lament sighed, _"Don't worry about it…there are way too many things we need to talk about for me to die here now."_

What he'd said had caught her by surprise, she really wasn't use to him being like this at all, of course their relationship had changed on the way toward Uth'maria, but, he was hesitant enough because she'd kissed him.. She hated the thought that he no longer wanted to be the animal she actually loved, but, she was still glad that he was alive. It still stirred in her mind, even now, looking at a lethal situation; how he was always so close to her. In an instant her attention was drawn to the room before her as she heard the familiar rattle of automatic gunfire, she'd been so mixed up in her own thoughts that she'd missed the signal. Kursed quickly grabbed the young minx that had fell against the crate they used as cover holding her paws over her ears, the child was far too innocent for this type of thing. Hefting the frightened girl onto her back Kursed rushed through the room, taken cover here and there from stray gunfire while trying her hardest to keep her eye on Lament.

Lament ducked behind a large metal crate just as several bursts of gunfire shot sparks from in front of him. He was only making certain that Kursed and Leena were out of harms way. He blindly reached his weapon over the crate over his head making a pass across the enemy's area holding in the trigger to the automatic weapon he held, taking several of them down all at once. It was however as he aimed the weapon around the left side of his cover that a familiar sound came from his weapon; a light whirring sound followed by a short metal ping. He swore under his breath as he pulled back trying his hardest to unjam his weapon; it was as this happened that he realized that the gunfire from the others had stopped, the knew what had just happened, they were clearly trained and knew that his only weapon wasn't worth shit anymore. However, just as he was certain that they'd pounce on him, the loud roar of an engine shot through the area gathering the attention of every animal there. Lament realizing that it was the sound of his second hand ship leaped over the crate he hid behind clutching the barrel of his gun in his paw; he quickly swung it with a thundering force into the first animal's skull he could come in contact with…the impact spattering a thick spray of blood across the vulpine's face. The force of the shot had actually driven the but of his weapon into the animal's skull enough to allow his weapon to stand on it's own as he slid behind the dead animal taking his own weapon. Several bullets slammed into the brutally killed raccoon's chest as Lament held the body in front of him, aiming his new weapon under the creature's arm. A short burst of lead ripped through three soldiers one of who began to crawl away before another shot plastered a raw mix of his blood and brain matter onto the ground in front of him.. Luckily for Lament the roar of the ship's engine partially muffled the sound of the shots he'd fired, unfortunately it wasn't enough, one of the animals heard the shot's and gathered the others' attention. The shots rang, and sprayed angry sparks around the vulpine's feet as he ran for cover. Sliding into place behind a small forklift, possibly used for loading and unloading the weapon systems of the fighters, Lament hissed in pain as he looked to a bleeding hole in his left thigh. There was little chance for him to get away now, the vehicle he took shelter behind was surrounded, and there was no other cover anywhere nearby. He took a moment to look to a small device in his paw, a grenade he'd swiped from one of the soldiers he'd taken down. He exhaled for a moment before looking to the device…

"Here ya go fuckers." He chuckled tossing it over behind him, over the vehicle.

He could hear the panic it caused as it had landed near several of the animals, but, as they all took cover they noticed that there was no explosion. Several of them audibly laughed, what were the chances the one grenade he'd grab would turn out to be a dud? The animals slowly gathered back to their places. Lament peeked around a corner only to instantly retract his head before it could be riddled with bullets. The small group still stood their ground, there was no point in advancing on him, Lament would eventually be forced to make a move and once he did there was no possible way to kill them all. Suddenly a familiar object flew from the cover of the vehicle, and without thought it was met with a hail of gunfire tearing it to shreds. There was a momentary pause as one of the animals noticed something else, peeking around another corner of the vehicle, barely visible was the vulpine they were supposedly firing at, carefully aiming for something. The animal took aim at Lament only to see the corner of his muzzle curl into a smug grin as he fired a single shot from the rifle he'd taken. He'd never activated the grenade in the first place. The round was perfectly on target, and before the animal that had noticed him could say anything the small explosive erupted into large ball of flame. The force of the small explosion seemed tremendous for such a small object which sent bodies in all directions. A still smoldering arm flew over the vehicle landing slightly in front of Lament which he simply kicked away before standing up. The tactic had almost complete results, two animals were however left alive; a feline that attempted to crawl toward a weapon with the only arm he had left, while a canine rolled about the floor in agony, clearly suffering sever shrapnel damage to his abdomen. As Lament limped by a shot from his weapon put the poor canine out of his misery before he turned his attention to the animal that was still crawling his way toward his gun, he didn't even bother looking to the feline before firing a shot into the back of the animal's head. Lament used the shoulder strap of his weapon to allow it to hang across his chest before walking along the long line of ships, entering the largest one he could find…

_**General Shears Office……**_

Not too far away the general was watching a small security monitor, watching everything that had just happened. The video evidence would prove invaluable to him later; as well as when he watched Lament walk out of the large ship he'd entered dusting off his paws and casting aside his weapon before rushing off to a single man fighter. Shears turned to look out his office window; in the far distance he could see the small vehicle launch into the air. He smiled as a he depressed a small button on his desk…

"Dawn…get the other Generals on the line…" He said just as there was a massive explosion that rocked the entire building engulfing the building Lament's ship flew from in a large, towering fireball, "…it seems that Corneria had finally decided to attack us. Tell then to get the armada together, we attack in three days."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **_Wow this took forever didn't it? Okay don't answer that please, I know i lost sight of this fic for a while, but, there was a lot of stuff on my mind and...well i just got sidetracked but, here's to the people that kept reminding me ^^ thank you. I loved the first fic and I will see this one finished. Please enjoy the chapter, even though I'm sure it's not what is expected, i will make certain that chapter 10 is worth the wait..._

* * *

**-Chapter 9-**

_**-Hunting Season-**_

**-One Week Later-**

"In news today an incident involving the two mysterious figures known as Lament, and Kursed have been linked to an attack on a Stygian Fleet. The situation has resulted in an all out declaration of war as the Stygian General, Shears claims that his men were attacked and brutally murdered by the two. So far the Stygian attacks have included; Papetoon with little effect on gaining ground there, Titania of which the Council is reluctant to send troops to, and according to sources a small section of their forces have begun to scout the recent addition to the Lylat roster…planet Sauria was hit early this morning. Upon further investi…"

As the screen went blank Lament sat at the desk of his study steadily running his claw across the scar that had robbed him of his left eye so many years ago. It was as he sat there going over some sort of paperwork that Kursed entered the room. Leena had been taken back to Reiko, as per their agreement leaving the two of them alone on the ship. The vixen set a steaming cup in front of him before looking over his slouched shoulders, reading over the documents. They were stolen from Shears's ship, but, she couldn't make any of it out…

"What is this crap?" She asked picking one of the documents up, "it doesn't make any sense at all."

"It's a written code," Lament replied taking the note back, "had a friend a while back that could have easily cracked this. It's based on some kind of Algorithm."

Kursed sighed taking a drink from her own hot drink, "Why is any of this important enough to steal?"

Lament shook his head as he sat the document back on the desk, "Because I know Shears," He replied, "just watch, if we can't find out what he's after. He'll find it himself; he'll find it, offer a cease fire with Lylat and go back to Stygian. So far all I can find in all this…" He said waving his arm over the desk, "is that it's some sort of…light? I can get from these first few the words "Light of Archon" but that's only if I'm translating this correctly. There is one other word in there that worries me though…"

Kursed chuckled, "And that word would be?"

"Fyra…" He replied, "…honestly I though the bitch was caught inside when that temple came down."

Kursed lay her paw on his shoulder, "You "were" inside when that temple came down."

Lament nodded, "Hmmm…good point," He said taking a sip of the drink she'd brought him, "cocoa? Seriously?" He smiled, "haven't drank this stuff since…" The vulpine suddenly froze up.

The vixen cleared her throat as she walked around the room examining this and that, as she'd never actually bothered entering Lament's study, "How exactly did you become Lament? I mean, is it just a name or…something else? There isn't more than just one of you is there?"

Lament chuckled, "No, there's just one Lament. I'm not sure about the origin of the name itself, apparently there's been a Lament since before we knew what deep space exploration was. I was told the day that I became Lament, that becoming the person, not just taking the name, would bring me everything I've ever wanted. I've always found that pretty much a load of horse shit, since everything in my life died a few years back…"

Kursed sighed, "The gravestone back on Sauria? You really loved her didn't you?"

Lament nodded with a depressed sigh, "Yeah, more than life itself. From the first minute I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the girl I was meant for. Even after she told me that the only time she ever wanted to see me again, was to watch me die. I can't really blame her…"

Kursed looked back over her shoulder to see that he was simply sitting there now staring at the surface of his desk, "I'm certain she didn't mean it."

Lament shook his head, "Three weeks after she left me; I was sitting at this bar, trying to make myself forget that I'd just basically destroyed the only great thing in my life. And who do you think came through the door?" He asked looking to her, "her…slobering all over this walking pile of shit. Not sure if she was there to torment me for what I'd done or, if she was just there to have a good time with the new man in her life…but…I took it fairly hard…" He said turning his head so that she could see the bullet wound on the side of his head, "…apparently I was a little too drunk to hold the gun properly…slid across my scalp…bullet entered right here…" He said placing his finger on a slightly visible scar, before trailing around to the back of his head to another, "…came out right here. Doctors said that I was one of the lucky ones. Bullet didn't fragment when it hit my skull, instead it altered trajectory and kicked it right back out. Doc said it was a "one in a million shot" that there was no way in heaven or hell I could ever replicate it. Then I tried again…" He shrugged his shoulders, "…blaster this time, another "one in a million" blaster misfired, nearly took my hand off. Then I jumped to less…conventional means…" He explained as he pulled away the fur on his neck to show a thick red mark, "…when I jumped the rope didn't do it's job, instead I hung there for a total of about three minutes and woke up on the floor, the rope had snapped. Difference was that this time, I was found out, friend of mine couldn't let me end it and committed me. It was two years before I managed to get back into a "social behavior pattern" or at least they thought so. Truth was I just decided that if conventional suicide wasn't going to work, I'd just drink myself to death. That was when I met, and became Lament…"

The vixen wiped her eyes, "What…what would you say to her? You know if she were still alive."

Lament chuckled, "Considering she'd even listen to me? I'd probably just tell her that I still loved her…" He said, "…and that no matter what was happening to her, or who she was with. I'd wish her a happy life. See I never thought that being Lament would ever help me, I honestly thought this Lament guy was just blow'n smoke up my ass…but, when you started chasing me all over the place. I don't know; I had a gorgeous animal like you chasing me all over the Accord, I kind of enjoyed it, all the excitement just somehow made me forget. I guess I owe you a thanks for that…"

Kursed suddenly turned around and walked over to the desk stopping in front of his desk where they light seemed to illuminate just the front of her face, as she was wearing a sort of one sided smile. He seemed to be lost as she stood there, and didn't even seem to hear her words until he shook his head…

"Hmmm…What?"

"Are you alright?" She asked, "I asked if you really meant that and you kinda…spaced out on me."

Lament shook his head, "Oh sorry. Just something about the way you were just standing there kinda reminded me of something."

"Of what?" Kursed asked, _"Come on Fox…" _She coaxed him in the back of her mind, _"…say my name damnit."_

He chuckled, "For a second there you looked just like Kry…." He paused as he reached into his pocked placing a small device to his ear, "…Aaron? You have it then? Good, I guess that means we're going to Xenass. I'll see you there…"

The fox stood up and headed for the bridge patting her shoulder on his way out, "Come on Krys…we need to get ready," He said, "there are a lot of people on Xenass that don't like me too much."

The vixen chuckled, he hadn't even noticed what he'd just called her, "Lament…" She said, "…nobody in this system likes you," She said brushing up against him, "well, almost nobody."

Lament chuckled as he gently pushed the vixen with his elbow, "Well, I'm glad that somebody is you. No normal person would be able to keep up with me."

"Maybe you're the one that's having trouble keeping up with me." The vixen replied.

"If that were true why is it you never caught me?"

Kursed chuckled, "Okay so maybe I was struggling a little."

The two slowly made their way down the familiar halls of the ship and it was as they did that small glimpses of his past began to flash before his eyes. He could see a familiar little toad working on the halls, while a blue falcon argued with a half senile old hare in some off hallways before he suddenly stopped. In the distance of the hall that led to his old quarters; a blue vixen and a chestnut furred fox were locked in each other's arms, their hands digging through each other's hair and fur while his hand desperately searched for the keypad to the door before it finally slid open causing the scene to vanish from sight. It was then that a sudden shock caused Lament to shake his head…

"Hmm…sorry you say something?"

Kursed looked down the hall, "You feeling alright? You haven't really been yourself lately."

"I've just had a lot on my mind…" He replied still looking down the hall, "…listen, Kursed. I know this might be crossing a line but, what happened to you? You know, before I apparently killed…"

Kursed shook her head, "No, I don't mind," She said, "see it's really a lot like what you said. Only difference was I was abandoned…of course he had motives as to why he was doing it but, that wasn't how I felt about it. Anyhow, by the time I learned the truth about why he'd left me behind. It was too late…"

Lament sighed, "I'm really sorry."

"No, he was a mercenary…" She replied, "…occupational hazard. I had no right to blame you for it, he probably came after you for that nice big bounty you've got on your head." She finished rubbing his head.

Lament thought for a moment, "So…speaking of all that," He said, "about that last night before…was that some spur of the moment thing, or was that really how you felt?"

Kursed chuckled as they continued walking, "You mean the sex right?" She replied, "that was sort of…impulsive, but…it wasn't something I regret if that's what you mean."

Lament chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, that sort of answers what I was asking I guess," He said, "I think the two of us can agree that this whole war scenario has the two of us to blame. In that case I actually want to set things right…" He said looking to her, "…but, once we get this all taken care of, I was wondering what you thought about that offer of mine."

The vixen chuckled as she kissed his nose, "That answer your question?"

Lament nodded with a light smile, "Yeah."

"You haven't smiled in a long time?" Kursed asked.

"Been a long time since I had a reason to."

Not long went by before the two of them were on the ship's oversized bridge, where Lament took his seat in the captain's station, "MEL…we need to go to Xenass. You know the routine."

There was a pause, "Rerouting primary IP address to corresponding user…" MEL's voice replied, "…scheduled jump time…six minutes."

The vixen thought for a moment, "Your note said this was the Great Fox once right?" She asked, "What ever happened to that robot that ran the maintenance?"

Lament chuckled, "Not surprised you know about ROB," He replied, "one of the greatest innovations in advanced robotics when he was first built. But, the little guy…Slippy Toad, couldn't stand to see him be decommissioned alongside the ship, and took the body back with him. It was easy enough to upload the original AI interface into the system, that's where the robot's personality and everything else were stored. MEL is basically a high class upgrade to that original AI," He sighed, "you know it's funny, after seeing that note I was expecting a lot more questions about McCloud."

"Was he married?"

Lament sighed, "Back then there was a time that I had given it some serious though. Someone that I wanted to marry, but…in the end…well I've already told that story."

"Oh so that's why you pretty much lost it when she left?"

Lament sighed, "You're not gonna let this subject go are you?"

The vixen chuckled, "I finally have an opportunity to learn more about Lament than any other person has ever known. What would you do in my position?"

The ship suddenly lurched forward into hyperspace, "Fair enough. Let's go get something to eat and then we'll talk."

**Planet Sauria**

A slightly tall, redbone hound stood there as he removed his had scratching his head fur. The door in front of him was massive and blue, and covered in black markings that lead to a sun-shaped pattern at the center where a small dais acted as a keyhole. He shook his head furiously as he rubbed his face in frustration, as the characters on the walls continuously seemed to change. The runic symbols finally caused him to turn kicking over a small table that researchers had been laying their material on…

"What is it between the Krazoa and the Cerinians? What were they attempting to hide?"

A rather timid soldier slowly entered the room, "Um…General."

"WHAT!" Shears yelled causing the animal to leap back into a full salute.

"Sir, I don't mean to interrupt but…the mercs you sent for just arrived."

The hound sighed walking out of the room, stopping before laying a page of paper in the soldier's hand, "Here…twenty million, and a Captain's seat on your own ship if you can get the door open."

Shears headed out into the open where he found a small mass of soldiers; a large mass of light aquamarine scales stood at the center. It was a massive reptile, crocodile; is body was as thick as two or three of the largest Lylatians the hound had ever seen, and was also much taller than the soldiers that surrounded him. He wore a strange kind of hat with curls in the sides of the round brim, causing it to slope down into a point near it's front, a small band around the middle held what looked like teeth, and his tan vest barely fit his oversized body. He wore a pair of dark brown cargo shorts, with a pair of belts that crossed over one another, and what were possibly the largest combat boots the hound had ever seen.

After the General approached them, the soldiers parted giving into view a startlingly gorgeous vixen; her fur was deep red, with her long hair being slightly darker than her fur. Her emerald green eyes were slightly hidden behind her wild hair. She wore a light gray tank top, with a pair of cargo pants and combat boots herself. She didn't seem too pleased with the jungle setting, though her reptilian friend seemed right at home…

"The famous Sydney Vexx, and Jamie DeDarma. The two of you have quite the reputation in Stygian." The hound said.

"You wanna get to yer point there mate?" The massive crocodile asked.

Shears stopped before him craning his neck in order to get a clear look at his face, "I have never seen an Argon before, I can clearly see why your people are so…feared."

"I can give ya a lot more reasons for that mate?" He replied picking the hound up by the front of his shirt, "I don't much care fer da smell o' this place, and this whole scene of yours is look'n a mite dodgy."

The vixen sighed, "Sydney…it's not good practice to threaten our employers. You can kill him if he goes back on his word. Now, I'd like to know why you wanted us here before we would be given the job."

Sydney released the animal whom dusted off his coat, "Well Miss DeDarma. You see most Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters are not really up to the task at hand. You see I need a living Cerinian and the only one that I am aware of is a very special Bounty Hunter…"

"Kursed?" The vixen asked looking to Sydney.

Sydney looked back to Jamie, "Alive?" He replied looking to Shears, "Mate I gotta say you got one hell of a set o' balls to be goin' after someone like her."

"No," Jamie said to the reptile patting his arm, "we can do this."

Shears sighed, "There is one little bump in that road however," He said, "she seems to have found a…mate. He is at the moment acting as her partner, and I am certain you have heard his name before…Lament?"

Sydney laughed, "Mate I can't say much fer your sense o' humor. Everyone knows that Lament is just a rumor. Just some sort o' ghost the Council made up so they can keep all their top secret crap underground. Rumor gets out that Arspace is designin' a new model of Arwings, poof fuck'n thing vanishes…and just like every other time it's Lament…and yet every single time someone sees this guy…it changes. First he's hare, then a mink, then a Venomian, Hadian, Lynx, even a wolf and a fox. I've heard all this talk…"

Shears chuckled, "I understand your cynicism…but, he has robbed me as well and I have images that prove as much."

Jamie sighed, "Fine we will take the job. Where can we find them?"

Shears smiled, "Kursed is anything if not predictable. Her and Lament are in a bad way…they will go into hiding, and at the very same time, they will fall back onto the one way they know of to accumulate vast amounts of money in little time. Once they take up the hunt again…it should be a breeze for a tracker like Mister Vexx here to do his work."

"What's this wild goose worth?" Sydney asked as they walked off.

"Sixteen million," Jamie replied, "make sure you're ready, I've heard my own share of stories about Lament. He might be too much for me…let's just hope that you're too much for him."

Peppy thought to himself as he sat in his communications room; this was the only room that nobody else ever entered. Unlike the War Room, where other heads of the military groups of the Trinity Accord were allowed, here only the General of Corneria was allowed. Inside was a single seat, and before it say a small terminal that would display the images of the Councilmen that would overhear what it was he had to say. The image that stood before him was none other than Senator Lemont; a tall animal with black fur, broken here and there by specific patches of redish brown over his eyes and down his middle, as well as covering his muzzle. He was a fair man, but, very dutiful to the accord…

"You mean to tell me that Fox McCloud has been posing as Lament?" The senator asked in a calm voice, "I must admit that I find this a bit…vexing."

General Hare sighed, "I understand Lemont, but, you have to believe me. Not as the general, but, as a friend and a concerned Lylatian and member of the Accord. I do not understand why he is disguised as Lament but, we have to find him. Find out what it is that he has discovered that would send Shears into a big enough rage to frame him for all that he has, and considering the notion. Help in whatever way we can."

The Senator sighed, "Listen it is only…and I mean only, out of my respect for James McCloud, that I am even going to consider this. Get me a video conference with Lament if you can…and I will test him myself…" He sighed, "Peppy, I pray to god that you're right. Because I do not trust Shears, and yet I cannot give order to attack unless he does something stupid."

The two bid each other farewell and Peppy slowly made his way out of the room where he found a blue falcon leaning against the wall, "So? What's the word."

Peppy sighed, "You're going to go find him…give him this." He said passing the avian a small disk.

Falco looked half disgusted, "That's it? A fuck'n holo-drive?"

Peppy shook his head, "Listen there's a chance that Fox is at war with himself, and if that's true then you need to give him that and get out of his way. He's not the same person he used to be."

"Fine…" Falco replied, "but you can't expect me to know all of this and not say something to him. I know I've been a dick, especially about his whole thing with Krystal, but still…he's my best friend. I have to see for myself that this is all true."

Peppy nodded, "Listen…there's a recruit here, he's not new…he's been military for a long time. He's part of a rehabilitation program that the military is running for Neural Link technology," He said, "name is Creed Tasser. He's a very large individual; he's strong as anything I've ever seen, and he's been in hostile situations before…I want you to take him with you. He'll be waiting at your ship…"

Falco rolled his eyes, "Oh great now I'm a fuck'n wetnurse."

Peppy half chuckled, "Falco this is not a man you have to worry about or look after."

Falco turned and headed down the halls, he knew Fox more than anyone else did. Fox would go to the one place he knew nobody would look for him, because no average person would dare go there by choice. He knew the only place that Fox would go was Xenass Undercity. It wasn't until he made it to the hangers near the military base that he noticed a very large red fox wearing a blood red longcoat, with an elaborately worked cross stitched across the back of it. In one large metal hand he held onto a duffle bag, while the other brushed something off the front of his coat. It was clear that this animal headed toward his personal hanger was Creed, and now that he'd had a fair look at him, perhaps this partner business wouldn't be such a bad idea after all…

Lament and Kursed slowly climbed off their ship; and after some words with a mechanic that Lament clearly knew. They were led off into the city. It didn't surprise Kursed that this was where Lament would lead her; it was dank, dark, and crime ridden…just like Kew, Undercity was a place no sane animal would go. It was perfect cover for two attempting to hide. Her only problem now, was the strange, creeping feeling that kept causing her to look over her shoulder. The sapphire vixen got the feeling often, most often than not when something was going to happen…and there was always something happening on Xenass…


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:**_ I've actually been thinking alot about this story lately, not sure why. But, here's chapter ten all, hope you enjoy it as much as i did writing it. I'll have chapter 11 done asap, in hopes of making up for the chapters of the stories i've missed though. Thanks for all the support through this troubling time all..._

The footsteps in the darkness ~ SkullFox

* * *

**-Chapter 10-**

**-Knowing-**

Lament's eye fluttered open as he sat up, the operation was a success and there was only one doctor he knew of that could do it on the black market, then again the Link itself was black market. A new and improved eye to replace the one he'd lost; he slowly looked about to see the blurred image of the white clad animal that had conducted the surgery, as well as the blue vixen that stood nearby. The vixen helped him to his feet before turning toward the doctor; Lament was certain she was thanking him but, the aesthetics were still in his system and he could not properly make out her words. Hanging onto Kursed, Lament found himself trudging a short way through the streets before he was released onto the bed of a shall motel room…

"Well what happens now?" Kursed asked, "you seem pretty certain that Shears is watching your bank accounts so he can pinpoint you."

Lament lightly nodded, "We'll have to look up a job, something very low profile, small…something here in town."

Kursed sighed, "I noticed a bounty board outside that doctor friend of yours's place. I'll go check there, most people around here know me well enough to know better than messing with me."

Lament half chuckled, "Yeah, just be careful okay. There are a lot of weird mother fuckers in this city."

Kursed chuckled, "There's a weirder one in this room," She replied causing him to smile, "by the way, why would you wait until now to have that eye replaced?"

Lament shook his head, "S'not that easy. Tests had to be run, diagnostics, scans…same thing that has to be done with all Links. Difference is that your optic nerves are a lot more complicated than others…it's taken some time for Doc to put the data together and get the procedure underway. My only problem at this point will be learning the Link's finger points."

Kursed nodded, "Alright. I'm going to that bounty board I should be back in just a few minutes okay?"

Lament nodded, "Yeah, just be careful. If something does manage to happen to you, I'm gonna have to kill someone and we'll have to look for a new place to hide." He chuckled.

The vixen walked toward the door swaying her hips unknowingly as, over the years, she'd developed a rather enticing way of walking, "Don't worry about me. I'll be discrete." She chuckled leaving the half sedated fox alone.

"If that's discrete, my last name's Oinkeny…"

Kursed made her way back to the Doc's office; she was curious why it was he was simply called Doc in the area, as it seemed to be used as a name not a profession, but, that was far from her reason for leaving the motel. She lowered her head in thought as she walked through the dark, dimly lit streets of Undercity; rather her thoughts were of how she could tell Lament who she really was. He clearly didn't seem to notice, then again, as she recalled the last time she saw her reflection in a mirror, she wouldn't have recognized herself, much the less expected him to. She wondered why it was that she seemed to always be thinking about the animal that broke her heart all those years back; often asking herself if the things she'd said to Fox back then had been justified. They weren't, at least not to her, nothing he could have done could have forced him to deserve the sort of treatment that she'd given him. Shaking off her thoughts the vixen looked about the area; the streets here were always dark, and dank, carrying the smell of stagnant water and undisposed garbage. It wasn't uncommon in Undercity to catch the smell of rotting flesh as well, most of the time a mugging would go unnoticed for ages, and even after was mostly ignored. Most of the buildings in Undercity were much smaller than other skyscrapers, nothing in this place ever reached more than five stories, and it was constantly humid…

The vixen shook the sweat from her head as she looked over the message board in front of her. She was actually amazed that they still used a bulletin board and tacks. Most places had a small Holo-screen that displayed small representations of bounty posters. Several things stuck out; a rat wanted for laundering money, that was nothing new the rats from Rittera, hell that seemed to be all they knew…money. A ferret who's poster looked a little suspicious. He looked like he was still a young teenager, and on top of that, his picture looked as though he was scared half to death. His light green eyes seemed to beg any looking at the image for help, and his crime was a bit unusual…

"Little young for Capital Murder isn't he?" She asked herself folding up the poster and stuffing it into her pocket, "well if there's more behind his crime that they're not realizing maybe there'll be a bigger reward."

The vixen's body suddenly went stiff as she shook violently for a moment; her legs gave out and her body fell to the floor. Standing over her was a white furred rat, who held a small baton in his hand; it's tip pulsing with an arc of blue electricity. He seemed slightly happy with himself as he looked down on her and smiled…

"Nothing like a normal stun gun is it bitch?" He asked jabbing the thing into her rubs causing her body to flail about the floor a bit before he relented, "temporary paralysis. You know Mojan's little brother's been looking for you for a while now…and I still own you for what you did to my little cousin Garex."

As she looked around she could see a short, stout young wolverine that eyed her for a moment before tearing her shirt open, "Wow…now that's a nice set o' tits." He chuckled gripping one of the soft mounds roughly, "we have any time to play before we hand her ass over? I really wouldn't mind be'n able to say I made this bitch howl."

A young wolf that stood to his life chuckled, "Can't blame you there…" He said, "…whaddaya think Mark?"

The rat chuckled as he stepped forward pressing the tip of the baton to her breast before pulling the trigger causing her body to go into another fit, "I think we've got time. Take her back to the den."

Lament rolled his neck as he stood up; he'd decided to work the sedative out of his system with a bit of light exercises. However, something began to bother him. He knew she wouldn't like him bothering her, or treating her like a child but, with his two swords and his revolver, Lament headed out into the streets. However as he reached the bounty board he slid his sword holster over his shoulder, while he placed the other at his side. Something light on the air caught his sense of smell; he could smell Kursed, but, he could also smell burnt fur. As he looked back to the ground he noticed a small drop of blood, it was very small, possibly from a light cut or something but, the drip was steady. He dipped his finger in the fluid before holding it to his nose…

"Hmmm…clever girl," He said, "must have got the jump on her when she was at the bounty board, and hit her with a taser of some kind. I'd imagine that kind of electrical current would drive her telepathy completely bonkers. This has been a really bad week for me."

With that Lament rushed off in the direction of the blood trial, in some places it seemed to thin out a bit but, it picked back up. The trail led far away from the motel, far off into the streets, and into another sector of the place, Sector 5. This was the place where only the most repugnant insults of life stayed. There were hardly any working lights here, and the people that lived here were deemed parasites…even residents of Undercity itself feared this part of it's own underbelly. The trial became lost for a moment, causing Lament to look about until it picked up again which led him to a small building. It would have easily been overlooked by anyone, spare the fact that it was the only building in that direct area that had any real lights on. Looking through a small crack in the wall of the building, Lament scouted the whole scene. Kursed lay on her back, suspended in mid air by a sort of hammock that only covered the space from her lower back to her shoulders. There was a gag in her mouth that she bit down on tightly. A younger, but, slightly tall wolf stood over her, mashing her breasts together while rubbing himself between them; and at her other end a wolverine's face was lost between her thighs. There was a fury in her eyes that he'd not seen in ages, it was the same look she had every time she'd promised to take his life. It was of course as he stood there that a white furred figure blocked the whole while holding a small communicator to his ear…

"Actually Verne, my boys are having a bit of fun with her right now…" He said, "…don't worry. She killed Mojan right? Well you have my word that she'd be alive when you get here. She'll be one sore piece of ass, but, she'll be alive…" He paused for a moment, "…so there's no change in the price then? More? Beaten too huh? Can't see why not. Every hole we can get into huh? Sure thing…" He said flipping the communicator shut.

As he stood there Kursed looked to the rat disgustedly, only to watch the point of a blade burst through the right side of his chest. He opened his mouth to say something, but, his punctured lung wouldn't allow it. As the wolverine and wolf looked to him, a second length of metal shot from his mouth before they both retracted causing the lip rodent to fall to the ground. The wolf quickly pulled up his pants and rushed for his gun, before he looked back to the wolverine…

"If anyone other than me comes in here…" He said, "…kill the bitch."

As he walked out of the building there was a light sound; the sound of a blade breaking the air and a rush of liquid striking the ground before the door opened. Lament slowly stepped inside holding a bloody sword in one hand, while his other kept a revolver tracked on the wolverine's head. The young wolverine quickly whipped the pistol in his hand toward Kursed only to have a bullet tear the weapon from his hand. As he slowly backed away he began patting himself down for a weapon, while Lament holstered his gun. The young animal almost looked like he was going to beg before Lament unsheathed his other sword tossing it to him. Kursed watched as the wolverine shot forward swiping and thrusting the weapon at Lament's face. Each blow was blind however, and the fox easily dodged them swaying one blow after the other until a flick of his wrist drove the point of his sword into the animal's left thigh. With a howl of pain, the wolverine thrust his weapon at Lament. In an instant reprisal, Lament snatched the wolverine's wrist, stripping the weapon from his grip, and driving it through his right thigh, leaving him to stagger back against the wall before Lament reached over to Kursed and unfastened the gag that she quickly spit out…

"You okay?" He asked.

"I've been better…" Kursed replied, "…I'm just glad you got here when you did," She said as he untied her hands which had been placed behind her back, "least you didn't give any of them a chance to finish."

As she stood up the vixen reached to Lament's side pulling his revolver; and without warning approached the wolverine laying a single shot into his crotch before tossing the gun back to Lament. As the wolverine slid down into a seated position screaming in agony; Kursed placed a foot on the wound, using her foot as leverage before tearing the swords free of his thighs. Which she then returned to Lament…

"What about him?" Lament asked as he looked to the still screaming wolverine.

Kursed huffed, "Fuck him…"

Lament scoffed, "Fair enough. You sure you're alright?"

"I'll be fine." She said wiping some blood from her lip.

Lament removed his own shirt handing it to her, "You know, I think you're the only person I've ever met that would bit a hole in your own lip to leave a blood trial for me to follow," He said looking to her lip as she slid on his shirt, "that's gonna need some stitches."

"It'll be fine…" The vixen said.

"Yeah, stupid me…" Lament said, "…Cerinians are fast healers. I guess this proves that we've both got enemies everywhere though."

The vixen sighed as she leaned against him, "Listen, I wanna thank you. I was a little lost in thought today or they never would have gotten the drop on me like that."

As they approached the motel Lament sighed, "Look, I've grown pretty fond of having you around. I'm not about to let some stupid bastards have their way just because you're wanted."

As they entered the room, Lament found a place to sit while he cleaned his blades, and Kursed went through their gear gathering up some clothes before tossing Lament his shirt. On her way to the bathroom the vixen froze, "Lament…" She asked halfway through the door, "…do you…do you love me?"

The large fox ran a cloth over one of his blades wiping it clean, nodding as he did so, "Yeah," He replied looking to her, "even after I promised myself I'd never love anyone again. I love you…probably more than I deserve to." He said looking to the floor.

"Lament…" The vixen called causing him to look at her smiling face, "…care to join me? Shower can get kind of lonely."

Lament chuckled as he slid his blade into it's scabbard, "What kind of idot would pass on an offer like that?"

**Some time Later…**

Jamie held up a small LED lamp illuminating the dark area that Sydney had lead her to. The small shack was nothing impressive, but, as the crocodile knelt before the corpse of a young wolf, he developed an uncertain look. The torso of the lupine had been cut through from his left shoulder splaying him in half diagonally. Not caring about the blood Sydney rolled the torso about so he'd have a better look at the wound…

"Something odd?" Jamie asked.

"You could say that," He replied signaling for her to kneel with him, "Look at this…" He said rubbing his finger over a severed bone, "ribs, collarbone, muscle, lung, spine…right through. Clean cut all the way."

As they entered the shack Jamie looked about, "What's the story?"

Sydney looked around, examining it inch by inch; clues were everywhere, holes where two blades had come through the wall, a small pistol with a bullet hole in it's handle, a bondage swing with a nearby ball gag. It took him a few moments before he stood up and took off his hat rubbing his scaly scalp before turning to Jamie…

"Kay…'ere's what happen…" He said, "…these two blokes, Kursed and Lament. Hurt'n real bad, Shears has a squeeze on they're accounts. They need money and they need it fast. Female leave the place they were staying long enough to check that bounty board we passed; but, when she don't come back…Lament gets really fuck'n twitchy. He comes, finds the blood that led him 'ere just like it did me…" He said looking to the gear, "…blokes were having a little fun with the sheila. That's when this bastard 'ere…" He said kicking the dead rat lightly, "…gets it in the back through that wall…" He said pointing to the wall with the blade holes in it, "…this one says behind to watch the girl…" He said pointing to the wolverine, "…that poor bastard outside never sees it coming, gets his as soon as the door closes. This part 'ere is what confuses me though…" He said looking to the wolverine, "…steps in…" He said pointing his finger like a gun, "…bang. Take's the bloke's weapon out of his hand, most likely threaten'n to shoot the girl…stabs the fuck in both legs…blows his sack off….just leaves him to bleed out."

The vixen looked everything over, "No it does make sense. Revenge, he's in love with her. They were either raping her, or about to." She said, "anything else?"

"

Sydney shook his head, "Nah…no tracks," He said placing his hat back on his head, "if I had to say so I'd say Lament's had Black Ops train'n. Viper most likely. No tracks, no clues, no hesitation. Just dead then gone. Our best bet is to find out whether or not they took a poster from that bounty board," He said, "till then we're flying blind. Right now we just go find another bounty board and compare what jobs are on which."

Jamie sighed, "Where to then?"

Sydney sighed, "Most of the jobs that are posted down 'ere are from up there…" He said pointing up, "…so first we're gonna go and get me a burger then we're gonna find us a bounty board. Then we'll find our target. Sound good to you?"

Jamie chuckled, "I am a little hungry…and who's to say we won't just find them wherever we stop?"

Sydney shook his head as they left the room, the bodies would be long rotten and half eaten by vermin and such before the authorities or anyone else, would ever notice the scene…

Lament sat in the lobby of another motel, this time a bit further form Sector 5; they couldn't risk staying in one place, or one room for too long. One night seemed like enough, and after a short process the two found themselves in their new room. It was much larger than their last room, and the beds were much better and softer than the last place. It was as he sat there that he examined the two blades he carried; they reminded him of a time before all the drinking, before everything became such a blur that he couldn't see anymore. He remembered what it was like to be the envy of every person he passed, not the subject of their slings and arrows. Turning his attention to the vixen that lay beside him, he began to study her face. The way she slept however, she did not look like the Kursed that he knew. She was sleeping on her side, the side of her muzzle that housed the long jagged scar was placed onto the blankets, and her long hair was caught under her resting body. It was as he brushed back a bit of her hair from her face that he couldn't help but utter a single word…

"Krystal…" The word barely fell from his lips.

The vixen's eyes fluttered a bit but, she did not wake, instead she rolled over in her sleep uttering a single word as well, "Fox…"

*****Flashback*****

"_Fox please…" A young teary eyed vixen begged._

_A much younger Fox McCloud turned away from her, "I've been distracted by you too many times Krystal. It's already nearly cost me and Falco our lives. This is a war and I can't let you endanger anyone else."_

_Krystal reached out to him, "But Fox…I love you."_

_Fox hesitated to reply as he simply stood there gently pulling his shoulder away from here…_

"_Fox?" Krystal said, "If you want me to leave that badly turn around, look me in the eye, and tell me seriously that you don't love me…"_

_Fox instantly shot about meeting her young blue eyes with a steely expression, "I don't love you Krystal, and you're a danger to everyone on this team. So you should leave before someone gets hurt…."_

*****End Flashback*****

Lament shot upright so quickly and suddenly that the bed itself didn't move in a way that would wake the sleeping vixen, and he quickly turned before backing into the wall. It couldn't be, not after everything they'd been through. Why hadn't she said anything? Clearly she knew, how could she not? His breathing grew so erratic that the was forced to grip his chest, it felt like his entire life to this point had been nothing but one elaborate setup. All this time his story and her's had coincided so well that he had only mistaken it for a chance, after all he was so used to strange things happening to him that he didn't even notice. It was as he looked on her that he simply couldn't take the stress of what he was feeling and rushed out the door…

The tall building he found to sit on was only a small bit larger than the motel in which they were currently staying. He'd always found that high places set his mind at ease for some reason, but, right now there was no solace to what his young mind was going through. He still couldn't believe it; there was a good chance that it was all in his head but, he knew better. There was no telling how long he was sitting there before he heard the sound of very light footsteps behind him, causing him to look to the nearly blank surface of the ceiling above him where small white spots dotted the space above them…

"When they first built Undercity there was this artist…don't remember his name," He said, "painted the entire ceiling of this place to look like the sky."

"Lament?" Kursed said with a bit of worry in her voice, "What are you doing up here?"

"I've always been able to think better when I'm off the ground," He replied before looking back to her, "I'm sorry…"

The vixen approached him, "Oh Lament don't go blaming yourself for that, it wasn't the first time anyone's tried that sort of thing with me."

Lament looked at her, not with the eyes of the animal she now knew, but with the eyes of the animal that had saved her life all those years ago on Sauria…

"I'm so, sorry. For everything…" He said turning his head and looking down off the tower, "…I should never have pushed you away like that," He running his forearm over his eyes, "I…I just didn't know any other way. I never should have said anything like that…I just still can't believe that it's been you this whole time."

The vixen smiled as she knelt beside him wrapping her arms around him, "Fox…I wanted to tell you, but, I just didn't want you to think I'd been avoiding it. I was just afraid of what you'd have said." She said tightening her grip around his neck, "when I came back looking for you, I heard that Lament killed you, I was furious. I swore that I'd kill him…but…"

The fox shook his head, "Fox McCloud and Lament can't coexist," He said, " If people were to learn who I really am, it would ruin everything. I can't explain what it is about being Lament….but, when I was at the end of my rope, and didn't want to live anymore…being Lament, it gave me reason again. That old man was right…if you hold out long enough, Lament will make everything right again." He said embracing her tightly, "and I swear…I'll never let you go again."

They would loose track of the time that they spent there in each other's arms, after what seemed like ages they were together. Problems would arise that neither of them were ready to face, but, together they would either rise against them, or die together, they was it was always meant to be…

Falco stepped out of his small ship, it had been a bit of a convenience as Creed proved to know some things about ship maintenance. It turned out that the massive young fox was once a pilot before the loss of his arms…luckily for him the military project that he'd signed for so graciously replaced them. It was as the large fox stepped out of the ship that Falco noticed the frayed and tattered ends and seams of the trenchcoat that he wore…

"Creed…" He said, "…small question…"

Creed chuckled, "Lil' sister was a seamstress for a while. When she made the coat for me, she said that there was love in every stitch and that I'd keep me alive whenever I wore it. I was suggested not to wear it when…" He paused, "…the day of the accident. When I woke up, doctors said that some of the seam work came loose in the crash, bound up my arms pretty tightly. Apparently if I hadn't been wearing this coat…I woulda bled to death. Since then it goes where I go." He sighed, "I suppose I'll have it repaired some day, but, only if Lia agrees to do the work for me."

Falco nodded, "Fair enough…" He replied, "…ever been here Creed?"

Creed looked about the hanger, it was filthy, unmaintained, and drab. Vermin of all kinds scurried across the floor, and old oil drums were left leaking all over the place, "Yeah…I know Undercity well enough."

Falco nodded, "Good…cuz we're gonna have to split up. You know what Kursed looks like?"

"Not really, don't fallow the news that often." Creed replied.

"Blue furred vixen, kidna hard to miss," Falco replied, "you see hide or hair of her, call me and I'll come running. I have to talk to her before she manages to realize that we're following her. Cuz if she does she may panic, and either run…or worse, turn and fight."

"Why's that worse?" The large fox asked.

The blue avian chuckled, "Imagine the best martial artist you've ever seen; then imagine for one moment that this fighter can read every move you make before you make it."

Creed's eyes went wide for a moment, "Wow…that's pretty bad."

"Yeah," Falco replied, "just keep your eyes peeled."

The two quickly rushed off in separate directions, hoping that they'd find the two vulpine before they managed to leave the station. Something about the situation rested uneasily on Falco's stomach. Something bad was coming, and when the shit did finally hit the fan, so to speak, he would feel much safer with Fox and Krystal well informed…


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **_Well this took a little longer than I was planning for it to. As I have been on the job/house hunt LOL. Anyhow, at the moment I have this fic pegged to be no more than roughly nine more chapters, but, I may whittle it down to seventeen in total. Either way, by the end of this Fic everything will be set in place, and there will be no real loose ends. Happy or sad ending...it will end with this fic. ^_- most likely..._

_Hope you all enjoy the chapter, I know I did writing it..._

The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox_  
_

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**-Chapter 11-**

**-Conflict on Xenass-**

Some hours seemed to pass while they sat there, and Lament' s arms refused to relinquish his tight grip on her. For the longest time, he'd blamed himself for her death, then blamed himself for the death of her lover; when in truth, it all turned out to be the very same incident. It was as they rested there however, that his mind shifted from one subject to another, the most daunting of all of them being, how would he actually managed to take down whatever Shears was planning, and keep from being sent to Styx to rot. Not only that, the job they'd recently done didn't pay nearly as much as they'd hoped considering the fact that the body of the one in question was all they could supply. Like always, however, the cunning Lament had thought something up...

"Hey..." He said shaking the vixen a bit by dropping the shoulder she rested her head on, "...I think it's clear that we need more money so we can get the hell outta this crossfire right?"

"Yeah what's your point Fox?" She replied.

Lament sighed, "You can't start calling me that okay?" He said hushing her a bit, "I can't afford to let people find out who I am...Lament deserves to exist; believe it or not this system...no...this galaxy needs a Lament..." He said, "...and once we get all of this out of the way, I'll find someone else that needs it and pass the name to him," He said kissing her softly, "then we'll do what we talked about..."

The blue vixen nodded, "I wish we could do that now."

Lament chuckled, "Well at the moment we kinda have a war to advert," He said, "my main question is...what's Shears after. He was a fanatical Andross follower last time we met, he was even trying to resurrect one of Andross's old failed Bio-weapons."

"You mean the big, stupid, floating heads like the one on Sauria?" Kursed chuckled.

Lament laughed out loud, "Yeah, he always was a vein bastard, even when he was friends with dad, and Beltino."

"Do you think he's trying to do the same thing this time?" Kursed asked.

Lament shook his head, "No, this time he's actually leading an entire army, not just a little sect of idiotic zealots. The last news report that I saw claimed that his bulk force is surrounding Sauria, I'm betting he's found something there that we really don't want him to find..."

Kursed sighed, "Then why are we waiting around here?"

Lament shook his head, "They have to make the first move. Since Shears knows who I am he'll send after me, and after the little video that I sent to Peppy, I'm sure that I'll be hearing from them as well. Just let them all come to us. I know the layout of this area like the back of my own hand, if we have to fight someone it's better that we have the home field advantage. So we're gonna have to split up for a bit, keep your communicator running and find a good location for watching the entrance to Undercity from Topside. Any suspicious characters...call it in, send me a photo, might know em. I'll keep my eye on the hangers down here..." He said kissing her before standing, "...just do me a favor and keep you mind clear this time okay? Can't go loosing your reputation as the Trinity Accord's greatest Bounty Hunter."

Kursed smiled, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine this time. I promise."

"Good..." Lament replied, "...let's get ready."

Though he didn't like the fact that it had to be done, Lament and Kursed parted ways for the time being; near the hangers that led into Undercity, Lament managed to find a nice little perch three stories up, where he could use a small rifle he had with him to keep an eye on the entrance, anyone that looked too suspicious would take a bullet. Whereas Kursed found a place at the entrance of Undercity itself; it was a large upward sloping tunnel that led up into the heart of the Xenass colony itself. There at the gate she managed to keep her eyes on the entrance while keeping her mind fully open to scan the area for anyone thinking of finding Lament or herself. All they could do for the moment was wait and hope that nobody appeared...

Lament sighed as he sat there, it had been hours and only several animals of little to no interest had boarded this area, and those that did only wondered out of the hanger far enough to grab a bite to eat before heading back to their ships. However, as the time weathered away, something did catch his attention; a rather large red furred vulpine wearing a long red, sleeveless coat, traveling beside a light blue feathered avian that wore a silver colored flight jacket with a pair of loose fitting blue jeans. At first he couldn't properly make out any distinctions in the bird's face, mainly because of the large animal he was traveling with blocking the view, but, as soon as the avian stepped out into the open, Lament lowered his rifle for a moment, placing his hand over his ear...

"Kursed you're not gonna believe who just flew landed here..." He said, "...it's Falco, and he's got some building with fur walking with him."

"I thought Falco swore he'd never come back here after he killed those guys that tried to kill Katt back before the war."

Lament sighed, "Yeah that was what he said. Might be here for us."

"Well we've got a problem on this side too..." Kursed's voice echoed through the communicator, "...a little red vixen, she doesn't look much but I think it's just a cover. She's got an Argon with her..." She said as Lament's wrist com displayed a small image of the two, "look familiar?"

Lament took a moment, "I've never seen the female before..." He said studying the other, "...other one's name is Sydney Vexx. Not a bad guy, but, he takes his work very seriously. Are they here for us?"

The vixen paused for a moment, "Fraid so."

Lament sighed, "Look stay low and find your way back to me alright."

"Right...I'm on my way."

It was however as Lament sat there that Falco stopped in place looking about for a moment before looking to the large fox and saying something. It wasn't long before Lament looked to a small sound only to find Kursed approaching him from the other end of the rooftop. It was as she knelt beside him that the two looked down over the edge of the building where they could still see Falco and his large red furred friend proceeding to conduct a short handed search of the area. Without saying a word, the sapphire furred bounty hunter tapped Lament's shoulder before pointing off in the distance. Coming from the other end of the area were the red vixen and argon that Kursed had mentioned earlier...

"They don't know about us and Falco do they?" He asked.

Kursed concentrated on the vixen, "No...though she's getting a little curious about why Falco is here. She thinks he's just a GPX pilot."

"Good, Falco was never the best fighter..." He replied, "...and I've seen first hand what Sydney is capable of, if this goes too far draw the vixen's attention, I can handle Sydney. Hopefully if he sees me there won't be any need to fight but, he's fairly serious about his job, so he might just want me to go with them."

Kursed shook her head, "Lament you can't do that."

"In the worst case..." He replied as she kept her eyes on Falco, "...that's all I can do."

Noticing that his voice seemed to come from elsewhere Kursed craned her neck back only to see him sitting on the top of the nearby water silo that rested on top of the building, "Are you ever going to teach me how you keep doing that without making a sound? Even Cerinian warriors make noise when the move."

Lament sighed, "Dad taught me a long time ago. It's not about making no noise, just making the right ones. I'll teach you when and if we get off this floating trash heap," He said pulling a small object from his coat that he fixed to the end of his revolver adding a stabalizing handle, while increasing the size of the barrel a bit, "I just need a higher point of view...argons don't have many weaknesses. They're scales have evolved to handle a climate that's pretty inhospitable; I've seen bullets bounce right off his hide like you were shooting at the hull of a ship...takes a lot of force to break those scales."

"Is that what that's for?" The vixen asked referring to the extention on his weapon.

Lament nodded, "It's an MLA. Magnetic Linear Accelerator. It uses a magnetic pules to bring the bullet up to a hypersonic speed. At that point almost nothing will stop it. His scales would slow it down but, it'd just get lodged in his brain case...either way it'll kill him if it has to."

"That sounds pretty serious," She said, "can't a blaster, or even a plasma rifle do it?" She asked, "Micron Cannon?"

Lament chuckled, "You know where to get a Micron Cannon on the black market?"

Kursed remained quiet...

"Didn't think so..." He replied, "...as for the other two he has a Kinetic Shield on him just like the one I use. Quiet down here they come."

As the two watched on Kursed made her way up beside him, "What's going on they're talking too low for me to hear 'em." He said.

Kursed took a moment before whispering back, "Let's see..." She said as Sydney began talking to Falco only to have the bird actually hand him a small piece of paper, "...I don't believe that he just asked Falco for his autograph...did you know that reptile has a son?" She said shaking her head, "never mind. The vixen is asking who the big guy his apparently his name is Creed. Falco says that him and Creed are here to look for someone that may have stolen something from military supply ship on it's way to Katina from Papetoon," She sighed with relief, "seems like they're buying it though."

As Lament watched the vixen and the reptile leave the area he sighed putting away his weapon, "Good, I actually like Sydney. Didn't wanna have to put one in his head because Lombardi's got a big mouth. However, it looks like we're gonna have a problem regardless of how we look at this. Sector 5 is a small place, and it looks like they're all staying down here."

Kursed watched the vixen and crocodile leave the area, "What does that mean for us?" She asked.

"Nothing much just that we're gonna have to make out way through one of those two groups..." Lament replied, "...and honestly our chances stand best with Lombardi."

"You're going to hurt Falco?"

Lament sighed shaking his head, "No...we won't have to. He's here for us. Our only real problem now is the fact that those two are keeping tabs on 'em."

Kursed looked down at Falco, "How do you know that he's here for us?"

Lament chuckled, "You think with everything that's been going downhill for me I wouldn't arrange a little contingency plan?" He asked, "I sent a message that was meant only for the eyes of the current General, at the moment that's Peppy Hare, but, the old man's health isn't what it was...his heart can't handle all the stress after all that's happened..." He sighed as he stood up and moved to the edge of the rooftop, "look if it's what you're thinking I've got no intentions of going back, that life already cost me everything more than once..." He smiling back to her, "...you're all that I have left now and I don't care what I have to do to preserve that, you and I are walking out of this alive...then we'll get our lives together back on track. I'll be Fox McCloud, Lament, whoever you want me to be, as long as I'm with you when this all ends...I could care less."

Kursed wrapped her arms around him from behind, "Fox..." She sighed, "...I...I love you."

Lament rubbed his cheek against the back of her hand, "I love you too. Stay here...keep an eye out, I'm going to talk with Falco...hopefully he's here for the reason I think he is. The problem is that those two are watching him now, so we need to get to him before they come back...they're just baiting us. If I know Sydney half as well as I think I do he's just giving us enough time to come out of hiding...he's just using Falco to bait us. Either way we're gonna have to feed into his plans to get out of here...he's only go two real weaknesses that I'm aware of that I can capitalize on..."

The blue vixen thought for a moment, "I cannot even begin to pierce his mind. How can you?"

"I can't..." Lament chuckled, "...I just know him. He's more than good at what he does he's the best at what he does. That makes him the single most deadly thing on this station. He can read people, he knows their movements, habits, what they will and won't do given a situation...but, he has a code of conduct. He won't hurt a woman, and he's got a thing for fighting people he thinks are as strong as he is. Chances are he wants me one on one, but, you saw the way he was looking at that big guy, Creed right?"

"I saw the way he looked at Creed," Kursed said, "it was almost like he was wondering how strong he was, sort of like a predator stalking his prey. So he wants Creed and not you? Is that what you're saying?"

Lament sighed, "Yeah, he's a lot stronger than you might think. You know that criminals are given ranking in this galaxy right?"

Kursed smiled, "Of course I have been hunting them for some time; I believe you still hold top of the lot there are only six criminals that rank a one, I've only ever seen two of them, and the first nearly killed me three years ago."

Lament sighed, "Well, Sydney is a special case. He's not a criminal but, he ranks a zero. I know you're about to tell me that there is no zero, but, to tell the truth there is...it's a special case known as a Black Spot. There's no list, there's no reward, there's no regard, he's completely ignored. He can never get an ID, never get an account of any kind, outside of his own homeland, he can never be entered into society."

Kursed looked at him with a shocked expression, "How many people are like this?"

"Including myself?" He asked, "three. They keep the name Lament on the Black List, but, they keep the name on the list in hopes that someone'll eventually kill me, or I'll show my face in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Black List is the worst possible place for any living person to be...the fact that Sydney has been on that list for more than ten years is a statistical impossibility, but, Slash managing to escape Styx is also an impossibility but, he did. That was what got him Black Listed, truth is being on that list is just as bad as being on Styx. For now just keep in mind that Sydney doesn't just pick fights with anyone, if he's eyeballing Creed...it's because he sees something that we don't.. If the shit hits the fan, head for shelter so you're not caught in the downpour. If worse comes to worse you and I'll get back on the Raven and we'll head further out for Sauria a bit sooner than expected."

Falco sighed as he an Creed headed back toward the docks, they would definitely run into Fox and Krystal if they waited at the docks, after all in this current situation, there was no chance Fox would stay in one place any longer than he had to. However a light chuckle caught the avian's attention, only to cause him to turn to to see a figure standing, half covered by the shadows of an alleyway...

"You're out of practice," Lament sighed, "I could have killed you and the big guy and neither of you would have seen me coming."

Falco sighed, "Or I'm just as good as always, and you've just gotten that much better. Where's Krystal? Is she actually with you?"

Lament turned his eye to the rooftops for a moment before looking back to the falcon, "She is..." He replied, "...why are you here Falco? I know I sent the message but, it was only for piece of mind, I have no intentions of going back. Fox McCloud is dead and that's how it's gonna stay."

Falco sighed lowering his head, "Fox, nobody understand that more than I do. It's just good to know that you're alive," He said pitching the disk Peppy had given him to Lament, "Peppy wanted me to deliver that, other than to see you and Krys that's all I'm here for."

Lament sighed, "Not fully..." He said looking down the street at the aquamarine scaled crocodile that stood there staring at them, "...Creed...I'm gonna have to ask you to hold him off. I'm not sure what it is about you but, Sydney is always in the mood for a good fight, not many people are strong enough to give him one."

The large fox looked to the Argon who cracked a wide smile...

"Do you think you can handle him? At least long enough for my ship to launch?" Lament asked.

"Not sure..." Creed replied interlacing his fingers and stretching his arms causing his knuckles to release a metallic popping sound, "...but, for someone like Fox McCloud, I'll sure as hell try my hardest. What about the chick that was with him? I don't see her anywhere."

Lament sighed, "I already know where she is. Just be careful...he likes to fight for a good reason."

Creed chuckled, "Bad news for him..." He smiled as the famous criminal, "...so do I."

Lament looked to the rooftops, "I have to go, Falco, a diversion within the next ten minutes would be very helpful."

Falco smiled, "Oh I'm good with diversions."

Lament quickly made his way back up to the rooftops where he'd left Kursed, only to find that she was nowhere to be found. He began to scout the area until a small shot pierced the rooftop causing him to step to one side, narrowly avoiding what may have been a crippling wound. As he looked on a shard of ice seemed to have been the projectile that simply melted away into a puddle of water. Something was familiar about the attack, it was ice, there were no weapons that shot ice instead of bullets as the ice would simply evaporate before leaving the gun. No the attack was familiar because he had once seen a Cerinian do it. He looked to the blade of his old friend before looking about the rooftop...

"You're no Cerinian, but, I know that attack..." Lament called out, "...who are you?"

A light chuckled faded through the area, the voice was something that he'd never heard but, it was very soft and calm, though there was a venom in her words, "My people have learned a lot from the Cerinians, I guess you could call us distant cousins. However, you've got a much bigger problem on your hands."

"So do you if you don't tell me where Kursed is..." Lament replied.

The far off vixen almost gasped, "Is that who this is? I was only told to bring him a live Cerinian. However, I also see a good opportunity," She said still managing to keep him in her sights, "if you bother to take a look at the antenna base in front of you."

As his eyes managed to focus on the object in the distance he found a familiar blue vixen strapped to the metal shaft of a broadcast antenna on the adjacent rooftop, and he very quickly rushed over, "Not so fast..." The vixen called causing him to stop, "...your little girlfriend is rigged with a special slave collar. Quarter pound of sea-four is enough to take out your, me, her, and this building, but, I can assure you that I will release her after she serves her purpose...even if Shears says otherwise. I may be a scoundrel, but, I have my honor. Come with me so that I can turn you in, and you have my word that she won't end up a very pretty blue smear."

"What about Sydney?" Lament chuckled, "let me guess, where's the point in sharing a bounty that's over a hundred billion right? After all entire planets have been sold for less money..."

党You could always try to find and attack me," The vixen replied, "but, she'd be long dead. There's a pair of cuffs next to her, put 'em on and put your hands behind your back."

Creed smiled as he looked to Sydney, "You're nothing like that chick you're traveling with are you?" He asked.

Sydney chuckled looking to Falco, "I could say the same thing 'bout you Mate," The croc replied, "so ya gonna start this thing...?"

Creed darted out toward the light blue animal swiping a powerful swipe of his arm at the croc's neck, who seemed to simply catch the vulpine by his arm before swinging him into a nearby wall, leaving a round spiderweb of cracks and fissures. However, the young vulpine simply stood up, and Sydney quickly threw up his arm knocking away a random piece of debris, only to have Creed's fist collide with his chest, a force that hurled the reptile through the air into a nearby dumpster smashing the container into the wall causing the crocodile to stand up shaking his head a bit before he recovered his had, and dusting it off placed it back on his head. He was amazed, he'd actually felt that punch, even under his incredibly thick scales. He chuckled as he cracked his neck, and rushed in. To his surprise his first punch swung over his head, before a kick from the croc struck Creed's arm causing his feet to dig into the blacktop until he came to a complete stop. Very quickly however, Creed's arm locked around Sydney's leg...

"Well..." Sydney quickly chuckled, "...this may hurt a little."

Without a second though, Creed took a double fisted grip on the reptile's leg swinging him overhead and face first into the pavement, leaving a large impression of the animal where he struck the ground. Side stepping the impression with the limb still in his hands, Creed swung the animal into the corner of a nearby building, ripping a large piece from the wall, before he finally continued a spinning motion, whipping the animal into a speeding truck. The vehicle tore the crocodile from his hands before swerving out of control and colliding with a small building before exploding into flames. It was as they stood by that Creed glared at the wreckage, only to see a familiar had hit the ground at his feet. Falco looked to Creed...

"What are you staring at?" He asked, "No way that bastard lived through that."

Creed picked up the reptile's hat, "You didn't see it did you?" He asked dusting the hat off, "He threw it...like he was trying to protect the hat more than he cared about his own life. Who would do something like that?"

A sudden metal screeching sound only to see the wreckage of the vehicle shift; it rocked from one side to another before finally seeming to split down it's middle before it's two halves parted to each side, leaving a the crocodile standing there, the vest he'd worn was tattered and flaming, which he patted out. His brilliant gemstone like scales were charred in places, and he rued his neck as he walked forward spitting a tooth and small spot of blood onto the pavement...

"Okay..." He said popping his neck loudly, "...second thought, that hurt quite a bit. First time I've seen mah own blood in years," Sydney dusted his shoulder off, "appreciate look'n after me hat Mate."

Creed shook his head tossing the hat, "Why? Why save the hat?"

"Was mah old man's..." Sydney replied placing the hat on his head, "...mean old son of a bitch...useless fuck'n drunk too. Everyth'n I'll never be."

Falco sighed, "You always this...pleasant in a fight?"

Sydney chuckled, "You don't get it Mate..." He said looking to Creed, "...dur'n a fight. You can learn everyth'n bout a person; the parts of 'em that they'll never tell ya. People put too much negetivity in fight'n, when it don't have to be that way. Take this fella..." He said looking at Creed, "...was even decent enough to realize I was alright. S'how I knew I could trust 'em with ma hat."

"We don't have to keep fighting like this Sydney," Creed said, "I enjoy a fight just as much as you seem to but, this is all part of a bigger plan."

Sydney nodded, "Too right..." He replied, "...bitch already took ma ship. And yer boy, an his woman. If I had her pegged right...she's already off this station, head'n to turn Lament in for that nice little ransom on his head," He said turning and walking off, "see ya 'round Creed. Next time I hope we meet somewheres a little less occupied. Looks to me like a good fight for the two o' us could actually level a couple city blocks."

**Katina City...**

**The Next Morning...**

A familiar chestnut furred fox sat in a tall seat before a massive judges desk seating two smaller desks, one to either side. A special tibunal was only held in specific cases,and this was just as special a case as anyone could hope for. Though for a court trial of such magnitude it was held in private, to keep any sort of word from getting out to anyone that might try to break him away from whatever fate he was ordered. There were no surprises however, as he sat back in the bench that they had supplied for him...

"The criminal known as Lament..." The black robed canine in the center highest desk called, "...you stand accused and guilty of the following; two hundred fourty-three known counts of premeditated murder in the first degree. Eighty six counts of extortion, twenty five counts of terrorist activity, theft of military and company prototype technology, theft of top secret government documentation, and the breaking of more than fifty acts and regulations of the Trinity Accord restrictions treaty. Have you anything to say in your final defenses?"

Lament looked around at the rows of empty seats that lined the back half of the room before smiling at them, "I thought there'd be more people here," He chuckled, "let me guess. You're all afraid that I've got people that'll come help me once they hear that you have no intentions of sending me to Styx..." He smiled, "...no I can see it in your eyes. Public execution, something real fuck'n nasty. Last time I remember someone being beheaded in the square, was more than what...four...thousand years ago?" He chuckled, "that's a real honor."

The three judges looked back and forth to one another, "I see...your powers of perception are indeed something that was worth being fabled about. Despite you deductive reasoning however, these crimes will not go unpunished, and you will finally be brought to justice. The axe will fall no sooner or later than one o'clock galactic standard time. Goodbye mister Lament..." The lead judge said, "...bailiffs, please escort this person to his cell."

A detail of what Lament counted as twelve armored soldiers escorted him at gunpoint toward the rear entrance of the building, before leading him off toward his cell. It would be his home for the last day of his life. As he was led to an armored truck waiting outside the building, he looked to the sky and sighed climbing into the vehicle with little to no fight...

"I guess I really fucked up this time," He sighed, "but, at least you're alright. Stay safe."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:**_ Okay so I didn't end this chapter where I wanted, but, you know how things tend to go. At the moment I'm not too sure when I'll be able to get another chapter up as the family is having some serious issues financially at the moment. So my network may go down for a while. Either way I'll try to get the chapters through to the Library if I have too, or "borrow" my cousin's internet ^^ Either way I'll get up the next chapters when I can. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and the story I know I have so far. Thanks for the support, and all the reviews..._

_PS: For those who care. You can find a sketch that I've done of Lament on my deviantart page: my deviant ID is Dravyndark  
_

_The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Kursed was shoved to the ground in front of a familiar looking hound, she could almost instantly mistake him for General Pepper, if it weren't for the fact that he was far too young, and had a strange looking thee lined scar over his muzzle. His eyes were also clearly a different color altogether. The animal chuckle as he walked about looking her over a bit...

"I do not believe that we have met," He smiled, "last I saw of Star Fox, the only female there was a miss Fara Phoenix. I am General Shears."

Whatever had been in the dart that had hit the vixen from behind on the rooftops was clearly stronger than she'd expected it to be. She attempted to express her disgust of the animal but, he simply stepped by till he was standing near a large blue, metal door, centered by a golden circular object marked with strange symbols...

"Did you know that your people are actually older than the Lylat system itself?" He asked, "possibly not. The records that Andross recovered from that wasted ball of dirt you called home were fairly ancient, almost impossible to decipher were it not for the help of the others of your kind we had found. Of course they all had to die," He chuckled running his hand over the door's surface, "this barrier is older than anything we've been able to categorize, and is harder than diamond. The others managed to refuse once they read what was inscribed on the locking mechanism, it was strange even till their dying breath, they refused to translate...and seeing as you are the last Cerinian that I have managed to find. I will give you no other option. You will translate this scripture and open this door..."

"F-f-fuck...you..." The vixen lowly growled.

Shears chuckled, "Your people, they have an unnatural stubbornness. Yet you are very powerful in terms of what you are. Do you not want to know the truth? To know where your people are from? To know why? Why one of the most advanced civilizations in this galaxy, gave it all up to live a primitive life on some forgotten planet in the middle of nowhere? Does that not interest you even in the least."

"You're wrong..." Kursed replied managing to look at him, "...that isn't what's behind that door. It says; _ our hand was forced, and what was born of our desperation will forever remain here. We pray this door never be opened...for the sake of all life..._Whatever is behind that door...I would rather die than to open it. And without a Cerinian you'll never find the key."

The hound sighed, "I suppose you are correct, considering that we have tried the staves of several different warriors, it would seem that this key takes something much different. Whatever it is it seems to resemble a key much more than your staff. So I intend to give you a simply solution, give me the key that I require, and you may go free and intact. Do not and you will suffer just the same as your good friend Lament...or should I say Fox McCloud? It is sad that they will most definitely keep his trial and sentence secret from the public eyes considering how many people he could have out there willing to break him free. No, they will wait until the last moment, most likely keep him masked up until just before the moment they kill him. I should know after all, I helped create the law that entitles a judge the freedom to do such a thing. So if you would like to keep him alive, as I am certain you do, perhaps you would like to give me what I need so that I can release you and you may struggle in futility in a vein attempt at saving his miserable life."

"My people have secrets spanning back millennia. Why do you think that I would know where it..." She paused, "...you said that if I tell you where it is that you'll let me go?"

"My word..." Shears replied.

Kursed sighed, "Do I even have to remind you that I can see every thought in your head? Do you really think that lying to me and killing me after letting me go is going to work? That's exactly why this has never worked with any of the others...because you're just a lying pile of shit."

"I see..." He sighed, "...genetically telepathic are we? I can see how a lie would not sway your thoughts then. Well even in the case that I told the truth to you, there would be no indication that I would actually not go back on my word. So rather than that I will simply have you detained and tortured until you decide that your tongue is loose enough that you may say something..." He said looking at his watch, "...then again McCloud's execution should be aired soon enough. According to my source it should be happening at one o'clock."

**1240 pm GST**

**Corneria City**

Lament sat there with his legs up on a small table taking a deep bite out of the massive steak that they'd brought him; what they had called his last meal was a spread across two small tables; steaks, meats, vegetables, drinks, deserts, anything he could have possibly asked for. However it was as he sat there that a guard seemed to continuously stare at him. It was an older wolf, one that clearly didn't belong in this place or in a uniform. Lament took a drink of the incredibly expensive scotch that was on the table in front of him in order to wash down his food...

"Didn't expect to find you here?" He chuckled, "cute uniform O'Donnell. You clearly haven't lost your touch."

The guard sighed, "Why? After all this time stringing me along it was always you wasn't it pup?"

Lament chuckled, "How'd you figure me out?"

"The grave..." O'Donnell replied, "...after my ship was repaired I traced your old trail back to Sauria. Miss Bella told me everything. She is a very...interesting person. After that it didn't take much to track you here, though they are doing one hell of a job keeping you under wraps. You could save your own hide in an instant if you'd just tell them that you're..."

"Wolf," Lament said looking him in the eye before shaking his head, "who I was is dead. Understand? If I die today, I die, I have things set up in the case that I do. I don't think you understand, but, this system...these people, they need Lament more than they need Star Fox. I didn't realize it until it was nearly too late but, I've seen people that could never get along banning together to stop me. I've even seen the worst criminal that I've ever known," He sighed with a smile, "change everything he's ever believed in, in order to fight for the honor of a man he hated. Can you honestly say that you'd be the person that you are right now if you had never thought I was dead?"

Wolf chuckled, "All that time that you kept trying to talk sense into me..." He smiled, "...and it took your death for me to realize what it was you were talking about all that time. It just pisses me off that all this time that I was hung up with my past, that I missed out on all the time that I could have called you a friend. Is there anything I can do?"

Lament smiled, "Yeah, listen. The person that turned me in, she brought my ship for the extra money. It's the prototype that I used when we fought; wait near the east side of the hanger their keeping it in. At exactly one fifteen, get in the ship and leave...about that time everyone will be too busy watching me die to care. I need you to head for Sauria, look for Krystal…I am dead. She's gonna need some help…"

"What do you expect me to tell her?" Wolf asked, "That you just gave up and died? After hearing something like that, she'd never go with me. Fuck with the way things were between me and her when she left Star Wolf, I'd be lucky if she didn't just try to kill me. She wasn't too happy when I first took Panther's word over hers."

"No she'll listen, just mention that I sent you."

Wolf seemed distracted for a moment, "Here come the guards…" He said reaching through the bars shaking Lament's hand, "…at least try to stay alive. I wouldn't mind the two of us having a drink, there are a lot of things that I wanted to talk with you about."

As Wolf left the area a pair of guards came into the room, as they stood there one of them removed a black, cloth bag that was meant for the prisoner's head. He'd heard of it before, he'd be beheaded, then the mask would be removed, and displayed to the public as Lament. There was no real way for him to summon for help, after all they were keeping his capture completely under wraps, to prevent anyone from coming to his rescue nobody would know of his death until moments after it happened. The darkness under the strange mask was strangely peaceful, it was like he was already dead. The two guards were amazed at how little of a fight he was actually putting up for someone with his reputation as a notorious killer, however, it was a relief as they were certain that only the two of them could never actually hold him down if it came down to a fight between the three of them. As they walked Lament could hear the roar of a crowd grow more and more raging, the three passed through a rather dark hall and upon coming out, the realization of the situation finally got to the prisoner, who began to thrash about in an attempt to release himself from the two guards' grips. However, a club to the back of the head was more than enough to stop his fighting…

Wolf kept his word and headed for the Hanger that was holding Lament's ship only to stop as he found the execution being broadcast on a massive plasma screen in the town square. He couldn't help but to stop, he couldn't bring himself to believe that these people were about to kill the one person that they had hoped to avenge for all these years. Wolf sighed heavily as they walked him toward the stage, where a large animal stood dressed as the occasion called for; a black hood to hide his identity from the world, the executioner would be subject to the slings and arrows of the victim's friends were his identity easily determined. Wolf expected that Lament would break their hold on him any moment, and somehow make one of those famous McCloud escapes but, he seemed to be completely limp in the guards' arms who lay him across a small block in front of the executioner, before a pair of shackles were latched to his wrists and he was pulled tighter against the block before a familiar animal stepped forward…

"It was deemed last night by special tribunal that the criminal formerly known as Lament is to die for terrorist crimes against the Trinity Accord, and in conjunction for the death of one Fox Jamison McCloud. I understand that this is a gruesome display for a public, but, his crimes have gone unpunished long enough, and we believe that it is the people that deserve to see his life brought to an end."

A voice suddenly rose out of the crowd, "The fuck are you waiting for? Kill the son of a bitch already!"

More and more voices seemed to join in, and soon there was a crowd full of screaming supporters of the animal's death. It seemed the name Lament was all they needed to hear before completely agreeing with the process of his execution. The executioner stepped forward, and without a moment of hesitation rose the large axe in his hands. It must have been a relic, some ancient took dug up from the archives just for such an occasion. With one small motion to make certain his aim was true; the large animal swung the axe about in a large circular motion, before bringing it down on the back of the now struggling animal's neck with a force that buried it's blade in the stand he rested on, where he simply left the axe before leaving the area. Turning away, Wolf could watch no more. It took little more time for him to reach the hanger, but, something was already very wrong with the place. Two guards lay unconscious near the door and has Wolf rushed into the building he found a familiar looking animal sitting on the nose of the fighter…

"Took you long enough," Lament chuckled looking at the communicator he wore on his wrist, "you're two minutes late."

Wolf chuckled, "You're still full of surprises pup."

Lament sighed, "Well they're gonna be slightly disappointed when they take off that hood, but, you know how the government is, they'll simply claim that the dead guy is me. Simple solution to a complicated problem."

"Where are you headed now?" Wolf asked.

"Sauria…" Lament quickly replied as he boarded the fighter, "…listen. I need you to get word to Peppy understand. As soon as I do what I'm about to do, Shears is gonna attack. He'll try to make the attack as close to home as possible in hopes of making me give myself up in order to make him stop. He's predictable if anything at all. Just try to keep everyone thinking straight…you're gonna have to be the hero this time Wolf. There's only one thing that I plan on protecting anymore…" He said firing up the system's engines, "…and right now she needs me."

Wolf smiled as he watched the fighter leave the building, "I guess I shouldn't call you pup anymore. You're as much a man now as James ever was. Look after him James…when it's her in the crossfire he may just end up doing something stupid."

It was as he looked to the opening in the roof of the hanger the ship left through that something caught Wolf's attention. The gleam of an anti-aircraft weapon being aimed at the ship. However, the wolf kicked up a large wrench, snatching it out of the air before hurling it into the distance. Very suddenly a rocket shot by the fighter narrowly missing, and leaving a trail of smoke in it's wake. This caused a lengthy green scaled reptile to fall from the opening where he stood roughly fifty feet from the wolf. Wolf could recognize the form from anywhere no matter what the situation was or how long it had been since seeing him. Reaching behind his back, Wolf produced a long bladed knife; it's blade was curved, with several small notches toward the handle, along with a small shield symbol housing what appeared to be a serpent…

"I thought you were dead?" Wolf sneered at him.

"You know me Wolf…" The reptile replied, "…I die all the time. It's how I manage to stay gone when I have to, though I'll admit that it never would have had to happen that way if it weren't for you kicking me off of Star Wolf."

"That was the deal, I wanted nothing to do with assassins on Sargasso, that was your choice," He sighed, "not to mention the fact that you tried to kill me. Don't tell me Shears was trying to get rid of anyone that could get in his way; and with Star Fox gone, that only left Star Wolf, and since I never discriminate on who I'll work for that meant Corneria's next means of protecting itself was to hire me. Am I close?"

Leon laughed, "You always were good at that deductive thinking old friend; just as good at it as Fox ever was. This target had nothing to do with you. Shears is just as deductive as any of you. He sent me here because he was certain that Lament was not going to just lay down and die, and he was right, he also explained that I should expect a bit of trouble if I where to come here in means of stopping Lament. He has already paid me quite handsomely."

Wolf sighed shaking his head, "I always tried to show you that there was more to what we did then just money."

"Oh don't get me wrong Wolf," Leon replied, "I was hoping that it was you here. You see, last time I attacked you from behind and still didn't manage to kill you. This time however," He replied pulling a pair of knives, "I intent to see which one of us was the better at this. As far as Viper's go, you were always considered second to James. Today I'm going to prove that they were wrong when they made me third in line."

Almost without any sort of warning, Leon shot across the short expanse, he'd always feared doing this with Wolf, and perhaps that was why he couldn't help but to smile. Fear was something that Leon had trained himself never to feel, as fear was something that could always lead to an assassin's death. He couldn't help it though, something about the way Wolf fought had always frightened him to some degree, it was simply something that he'd always chosen to hide…

**Sauria **

**Several Hours later…**

Lament's fighter landed in the midst of Thorntail Hollow where he leaped out looking over the vehicle; he'd pushed it far harder than he ever had before, and the engines were smoking at the moment. Had he pushed the fighter any harder he'd have either been dead, or they'd have exploded taking him out in the process. Lament took a moment before he looked to his communicator…

"MEL get the Raven here as fast as possible. You have full control of the ship for now," He said, "keep the plasma cannons charged and ready to fire. When I give you the signal fire on my location. Understand?"

"Understood captain…" MEL's voice replied, "…ETA to Sauria's outer aerospace. Approximately four hours sixteen minutes."

Flipping open the top panel of the communicator he wore, Lament pressed a few buttons causing a small display to appear. On the screen was a familiar map, plotted out by none other than Peppy Hare the first time he'd been on the planet so long ago. Across the map was a small flashing green dot that was an indication of the tracking bug that he'd managed to place on Kursed's body some time ago, which she'd apparently still not noticed or she'd have removed it long ago. It was as he rushed off in the direction of Moon Mountain Pass that he noticed something however. The road to the pass itself was blocked just beyond the gorge, where he'd almost fallen to his death many years ago. Across the gap was a familiar looking crocodile that was examining a massive boulder that was in his path; from this position Lament could see a very large knife, that would most likely have served as a large machete to any normal animal, centered on his back by a harness that wrapped around both shoulders, so that the handle pointed down his back. Rolling his neck, the reptile wrapped his arms around the front of the boulder, before bending down and with a quick standing motion, swung the massive boulder up over his head which tumbled down the gorge…

"These blokes're really start'n ta get on meh last nerve." He said to himself before lumbering down the path.

Lament looked on, "I think these guys went and pissed Sydney off. I could use this." He smiled to himself.

The croc didn't seem to give notice at all when Lament rushed up beside him, "Didn't think they could get through that neck o' yers without earn'n it." Sydney chuckled.

"Don't tell me," Lament said, "she heisted you as soon as she had me didn't she?"

Sydney sighed, "You got it mate. I guess I still have that one weakness, eh?" He said, "so yer here for yer little sheila ain't ya?"

Lament nodded, "Yeah…"

"You know…had me a run in with Kursed a while back," He chuckled, "lil' lady sure can scrap for somethi'n so small. I'm guess'n she leaned most o' that from you?"

Lament shook his head, "No, she's from a planet called Cerinia. Apparently females there are trained at an early age to be warriors."

"Ah, so she's some sort o' warrior, eh?" Sydney replied.

"No, she was a hunter…" He replied, "…according to her a warrior is a hundred times stronger than she is."

"Hmmm…" Sydney thought for a moment, "…well. Whatta ya think? One last run fer ol' time sake?"

Lament chuckled, "Getting kinda sentimental aren't you? Then again you said you owed me one during the war. Consider this that "one" you mentioned."

"Fair enough, mate."

"Shears is mine though."

"Keep 'em," Sydney replied, "I just got a few choice words to be have'n with a certain sheila. I should warn ya though. That bloke Shears he was hide'n somethin'. Whatever it is, it's big."

Lament chuckled as they began to head toward the destination on his communicator, "Honestly I don't think Dravyn would have wanted anyone else with me doing this. I'm glad we aren't trying to kill each other."

Sydney slapped Lament on the back causing him to stumble forward nearly falling over, "Yer a good guy, McCloud. I can see why people like ya so much."

Lament was a bit taken, ever since he'd known Sydney, the reptile had only ever called him Lament. He'd never given any signs or hits to who he was. It was at that point that he realized, Sydney had known all along who he was and had fully neglected to say anything about it. It was at this moment that Lament realized something; this Argon's abilities as a tracker were something he could never match, and his reasoning skills were belied by his monstrous size. It was no wonder why nobody had ever managed to bring Sydney in, he was massive, powerful, and clearly was underestimated by anyone that attempted to hunt him down, making Lament that much more happy that the reptile was with him…

As they collided in mid step, Wolf planted his foot in Leon's chest using the forward momentum to throw himself back while shooting the reptile back away from him. Though his thought process was nowhere near the speed of either Fox's or James's, Leon knew better than to give Wolf the time it would take for him to develop a fighting strategy. Wolf's greatest asset was his ability to formulate a solid defense to any situation, the only thing that seemed different in this situation was that Wolf didn't seem to be calculating anything. Something was off though, his artificial eye was emitting a red light. Up until this day, Leon had never actually seen the eye do anything out of the ordinary. Blood dripped from the claws of the wolf's free hand, trailing up to a gash in his upper arm. Leon took a moment as he noticed the horrible look on the lupine's face, only to place his hand on his nose returning with a palm covered in blood. A large gash moved down across his right nostril ending just under his lip. He hadn't even seen the attack, much the less felt it. Leon chuckled as he shook his head…

"I thought that knife looked different," He said, "Vibro-harmonic borillium. That is some expensive material."

"Bounty hunting is a little more prospect than murder."

Leon laughed, "Don't glorify terms with minor technicalities Wolf; bounty hunter, assassin, murderer, name a difference. Opinion, that's it…what has opinion ever done for anyone? It only gets us killed. No matter how you look at it the only thing separating you from me right now is the fact that I do so for my own gain, and even though you say otherwise, your situation is no different. You protected Lament, big deal, if not me now, it'll be someone else later. Futility, that was always the only thing that I couldn't stand about you Wolf; you hang onto your little dead wife, ages after she's been dead and gone. Back in the old days you were untouchable, you were just like James in every way. The both of you were perfect soldiers and you both made the same mistake, females…if it weren't for their ability to reproduce they'd be completely useless. Elanore did nothing more than get in your way. I did you a favor all those years ago…"

Something almost instantly clicked in the back of Wolf's mind; he and Elanore had only been married two years, before he had found her dead in their apartment. It was determined by Enforcers to be a tragic occurrence thanks to the increase in gang activity in the area, and yet there was never any kind of proof found that it was gang related. There had been no evidence found at the scene of the crime either. Wolf was dumbstruck, it all made sense now. Leon was especially good at making things look like an accident…

"You?" Wolf asked in a dumbstruck voice, "You son of a bitch…" He said feeling the burn of tears trailing down his face, "you….son of a bitch!"

Wolf shot forward with a speed that was nearly unfollowable, and blocking Leon's knife with his own, the wolf dropped under the weapons driving both feet into the reptile's shin causing him to fall forward onto one knee. As he fell, Wolf swung about driving his foot into the underside of Leon's jaw, pushing off with his free leg taking both him and Leon into the air. As they rose Wolf shifted his weight, and with an quick spin drove his other foot into the animal's chest. Leon shot to the ground from the force of the kick, sliding and rolling across the metal ground before his body crashed through a small pile of crates…

"There…" Leon mumbled shaking his head, "…you see, you really are capable of fighting like James. Though that wasn't as fast as him…" he grunted sitting up, "…that definitely hit harder. She was a weakness, and just like Vixy she had to be removed. Andross was right. He taught me to ignore such weaknesses; love, hate, anger, passion, all of it, emotion itself is just a…weakness. I could never allow my friend to become so weak."

Wolf glared at the animal, "Get up…" He uttered tightening his grip on his weapon, "…just get up. You're trying to defend what you did? You're the one that killed Vixy too aren't you? You were trying to get both of us to work for him, and instead your little project backfired."

Leon grunted as he stood up, "Yes…McCloud did take to the initial shock differently. We had hoped that he would become like you, emotionally fragile, easily manipulated in a weakened state," He said, "instead we misjudged one minor detail."

Wolf thought for a moment, "Fox…his mother was taking him to that game. You were supposed to kill her and him at the same time. Shatter everything he ever believed in just like you did to me. Once Elenore and Ellie were gone I didn't even want to live anymore. You convinced me that I still had a meaning, something to live for; but, it was all lies. You backstabbing son of a bitch."

"I see now that you'll never understand." Leon said standing up and pulling his knives.

Wolf readied himself, "You fucking bastard," He growled, "I swear, even if I die today. Before this fight's over I'm gonna tear your fucking chest open; and if you've got a heart. I'm gonna force it down your god damned throat!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **_Sorry about all the BS people. At the moment I've been trying my hardest to figure everything out that's been going on lately. Right now I've managed to finish this chapter even though it's not really as long as I'd hoped. But on the plus side, most of it's a fight so enjoy ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 13**

The loud crash of something incredibly large slamming against the doors outside of the room caused Shears to look over the small table of security monitors that were all set to watch the door to his little stronghold. It was not by any definition a large facility, it was only just underground and no more than two hundred yards along before it finally lead to where he could see Sydney's massive body once again collide with the metal doors denting them inward horribly. It was however as he looked to the second monitor that he finally saw it. The chestnut furred vulpine that stood by waiting for his friend to break through the door. It was as he stood there however that the fox turned his eyes toward the camera that watched them before lifting his pistol, a single shot causing the image he watched to fall into nothing but snow and static. The explosive force on Sydney's massive body impacting the door over and over caused the hound to begin pacing. He'd so far done everything he could to get his prisoner to go along with his will. The vixen sat by still conscious, but, beaten, bloody, and broken. Her impressive stubborn streak remained in tact and worse yet, Lament's presence was only going to make things worse. There was no way of turning her around now, in fact the only thing that was possibly going to keep him breathing now was going to be using her as a negotiation device against the psychotic animal's headed inside to kill him. All that stood between him and the two coming after him now, was actually Jamie, and he knew little in the way of whether or not she could actually do anything about it all...

"That's enough," He finally shouted, "I have no idea where Jamie's gone off to. The only thing standing between me and what's on the other side of that door is you..." He said finally drawing a pistol and resting it's barrel against the side of her head, "so it seems like my best option now, is to wait for Lament to break through that door. And let him watch this bullet tear you out of this world."

The vixen smiled, "At least I will have the satisfaction of knowing that you will be right behind me. Then you will have me to answer to for the rest of your afterlife…and you will still never know what it is you seek."

Shears sighed, "You could see him again, and you would still rather die than open that door."

"Yes," Kursed responded solidly, "if you had a moral bone in your body, and could read what I can on that door…you'd do your best to hide this place from all prying eyes. You would do everything within your power to forget this place ever existed."

The hounds suddenly held out a small hunk of what appeared to be well aged flesh concealed within a glass tube, "With what's in this canister…Andross will live again, with the assistance of what is behind that door. Andross deserved to rule the Lylat system unopposed."

Krystal huffed, "No ruler should ever sacrifice any number of their people…Such a coward is no more a ruler than I am."

Shears laughed, "A hired killer gives a lecture on ethics…" He sighed as he began to look over the shaft of the vixen's spear, "…curious indeed…" He mumbled as he held the golden spear up to the light, "…the symbols…they match…if read backward?" He said approaching the door and reading the more intricate symbols along the circular dais that rested at the center of the large door, "you…" He said turning to face the vixen, "…you were the one all along. This…Guardian that the cypher constantly mentioned. What is the door protecting?" He demanded swinging the blade of the spear up under the vixen's chin.

Krystal sighed, "It won't matter…if you open that door, we all die."

It was only a matter of moments before Shears could hear the door to the cavern batter to the ground from Sydney's constant assault. This of course caused Shears to rush for the door with the spear in hand, unfortunately as he did so, a black knife seemed to slid into the locking mechanism before he could reach it. Unfortunately as the fox and crocodile approached the young vixen a pair of feet met Sydney's chest causing him to stumble back before looking to a familiar red furred vixen. The croc chuckled as he looked to her…

"Ello sheila," He smiled cracking his knuckles, "ah believe ah owe ya a short trip to Styx."

Jamie laughed, "You really think you have what it takes to bring me in?"

"Ah've had plans on take'n ya in since we started work'n together." Sydney assured her, "McCloud, get Kursed outta there. An make sure ya kill that Shears bastard. Ah already don't like 'em."

Not seeming to hear anything that was said Lament slowly approached the old hound while drawing his two swords, "You're not dealing with Fox McCloud this time Shears…" He warned the old hound, "…I promise that you will NOT walk away this time," He said throwing Dravyn's sword to the hound, "pick it up."

Shears looked to the blade before looking back to the young fox, somehow the black trench draped over his shoulders gave him a death like visage. His scythe, an elongated saber, "You have no idea what we are attempting to accomplish here…think about it McCloud. The key to immortality is…."

"Something that someone like you should never even know about," Lament pressed a button on a small device in his off hand causing the hounds voice to echo into the large room, "With what's in this canister…Andross will live again, with the assistance of what is behind that door. Andross deserved to rule the Lylat system unopposed," It replayed his statement to Kursed, "looks like, even under all those ropes she's still got you beat as far as thinking goes. Right now the entire United Accord Armada is on it's way here."

Shears smiled, "They would kill you and Kursed."

Lament laughed, "Not if they happen to already know that I'm not Lament. They'll actually commendate Krystal for risking her life in order to find Lament, in fact they already have commentated Wolf O'Donnell for the very same thing."

Shears sighed with a slight smile, "Just like always you've got the answers for everything don't you McCloud?" He asked pulling a small pistol from his side and placing it to Krystal's head, "however, what are you willing to wager on her life?"

Lament held up his blade, "I can wager how much pain I can put you through before you beg me to end your miserable life. Or you can pick up that sword, fight like you're not that coward we all know you are. And I might not kill you…" He smiled, "…just turn you over to the Accord and let them throw you worthless ass to Styx. Besides that you still seem to have the same problem…"

Without warning Kursed spun from the chair she was tied to knocking the pistol from the canine's hand before a powerful kick to his stomach sent him reeling back…

"You still don't seem to know the difference between a conversation," Lament smiled as the vixen approached him, and gingerly wiped the blood from her face, "and stalling."

"So," The blue vixen huffed, "not it's your call. You can fight…or you can fall…"

Shears quickly snatched the pistol from the ground, firing an expertly placed shot that screamed for Lament's face. The bullet however made contact what an invisible barrier before striking the far wall of the area. It was clear now to the hound that, even had he fired at her as he had intended, the bullet would never have made contact…

"That is a lovely trick," He chuckled tossing the gun over his shoulder, "but, you both have no way of beating me this time…" He said picking up the vixen's spear and holding it at half shaft, "…come on then. We cannot keep them waiting can we? Once the two of you are out of the way…Andross will be reborn as a god. Noting will stop him because he will be unstoppable."

"Fairy tales won't save your life Shears…" Lament huffed, "…you die today."

"We shall see." Shears chuckled as he stood off with the vulpine pair.

Lament and Kursed stared the animal down before circling him in opposite directions so as to attack him from the front and back. The two of them rushed the old General; a swipe of Kursed's spear swung over her head, while several strikes of the two swords caused Lament to back away before they tried again. In the same instant it took for them to meet with him a second time, Kursed's spear swung about at an awkward angle causing the tip of it's blade to slit the fabric of Lament's pant leg, before the spear came to a rest over the hound's shoulders with it's point less than an inch from Kursed's throat, while the blade of his sword locked with Lament's…

"There's something different about him this time…" The young fox growled, "…he was never this good last time I fought him. He was a weakling. We have to think this out…" Lament pointed out before breaking their lock up and backing away, "…thinking was never his strong point either."

"Your petty insults are beginning to tax my nerves," Shears pointed out, "there is nothing the two of you could possibly do to defeat me."

Lament simply nodded to Kursed whom nodded back, before they once again began to circle the old hound. Whatever it was making him this strong, Lament was certain it was not his own ability. Whatever was going to happen in the fight, there had to be only one outcome, they had to do something to take him down. The Accord was not ready for another bout with Andross and if there was any part of Fox McCloud left, it was now speaking loud and clear through Lament's intentions. Shears had to be stopped at all costs…

Wolf slid away from Leon clutching a wound that had been opened up in his shoulder, "Look at you Wolf," The reptile sighed, "when did you become so WEAK!"

Wolf shook his head as he made his way to his feet, "Weakness…" He sighed, "…I've spent most of my life believing that weak people didn't deserve the rights that others had. I was wrong…the last thing I'd ever want in this life or any other is to end up a heartless sell out like you. You don't have a conscience so I wouldn't expect you to understand; and you don't have a soul so I don't expect you to care. Right now the only thing you can expect is that you're gonna die…it's gonna hurt…and you brought every bit of it on yourself."

Wolf and Leon quickly rushed in on one another, the lupine's strike sliding low, hoping to take out the reptile's legs. The chameleon quickly however lunged over the sliding wolf, not taking immediate notice to the gash that had formed in the sole of his right foot. As he landed however, the lizard slid off of his injured foot, before placing his sights back on Wolf, only to find that it was far too late. The rushing mass of wolf swung a mighty kick into the reptile's chest, the impact carrying the both of them as if Wolf himself were propelled by the sheer force of the kick before finally Wolf swung his body about causing his other foot to collide with Leon's gut causing him to gasp for air as he slid more than a yard away before rolling onto his knees. Leon instantly recognized it as the two stage kick that James McCloud had invented while still in the Academy…

"Here I thought James only taught that to his son…" He groaned coughing up a bit of blood.

Wolf shook his head, "Nobody taught me anything…Fox hit me with that kick eleven years ago. You wouldn't have known cuz you weren't there; that one kick nearly killed me. Shattered three of my ribs, cracked two, and bruised three more. You'll never know what kind of mind drove James, or what kind drives Fox now. You'd have to know what a heart is before you could use one."

Leon wiped the blood from his lips, "The heart?" He laughed, "you were the first person to ever tell me that James's whole outlook on that sentimental mess was nonsense. Do you really believe that someone's heart has that kind of power?"

Wolf sighed, "I wish you could understand. I was delusional back then, and it was all because of you and that god forsaken ape…" He growled, "…you're just like Dengar, and in a few minutes you're gonna be just as dead."

Barreling toward the chameleon without restraint; Wolf swung his body low narrowly escaping Leon's first knife before his second managed to splay a small bit of his ear tip from his head. Again however, in the same movement, the missed knife managed to cut back driving it's point deep into the lupine's right shoulder, while a glancing kick from the reptile's leg was met with the point of Wolf's own knife, which stood with it's point displayed, protruding from the back of Leon's thigh. As the reptile reeled back Wolf let out a pain filled cry before throwing Leon's knife to the ground. Leon could only chuckle to himself as his other weapon dropped to the ground…

"That strength has always been your strongest asset," He said, "does it help to know that neither of them begged for their lives?"

"It doesn't help you at all," Wolf replied, "now quit stalling."

Throwing his own knife to the ground Wolf rushed in again, this gave Leon the opportunity to mount a formal defense. Swinging about, the reptile whipped his thick, scaly tail toward the lupine's face, however, he quickly felt himself being jerked toward Wolf before his mouth shot open in a silent scream of agony while a gray furred hand burst from the center of his chest. The hand quickly retreated before Wolf pulled back on the reptile's head causing him to look at the ceiling before Wolf clenched his fist and forcefully thrust his fist into the reptile's open mouth, the force of the lupine's weight falling into the punch causing the two of them to fall to the floor with a loud thud. Leon's twitching body kicked while what little bit of life left in him caused the organ that had been forced into the back of his throat began to slowly peak back over his lips. With a forced kick to the side of the reptile's face, Wolf watched in amusement as Leon's heart skid across the floor, leaving a perfect trail of thick blood before ending with a spatter where it collided with the far wall. A sting however, caused the wolf to reach to his side, only to retrieve a hand smeared in his own hot blood…

"Well that sux…" He chuckled reeling back as the rush left his system causing him to back against a wall before sliding to his seat, "…looks like…I'll see you in hell…bastard…"

Wolf looked to the ceiling as his vision blurred before looking back to the reptile laying in an ocean of his own blood, "To…totally…" He smiled gasping with each breath, "…w-worth…worth it."

His last thoughts would always be of the family he had lost, but, his last smile however was that of acknowledgement. Leon had never been the friend that he had suspected kept him going all the years long, it wasn't until his world began to fade to a bitter-cold darkness that it all sank in. His reason for living had always been there, Fox had simply always been on the opposite side of the playing field…


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**  
**-Finale-**

Sydney's vision slowly returned as he found himself laying face down in the grass–spitting what bits of grass had managed to get into his mouth as he had lay there–the croc slowly rose to his feet with a heavy hand on his head. The other hand pulled from his right thigh a small needle, clearly it had been tipped with a poison of some kind. Looking about the area Jamie was nowhere to be seen, he could only chuckle at himself for being so naive. He sniffed the tip of the small dart, the burning sensation of a fair bit of familiar poisons from his own home world of Argo permeated from it…  
"Clever lil' sheila," He chuckled inwardly, "ya bought yaself some time fer now."

Suddenly Sydney's attention was drawn to the sound of clashing steel, only to find a fox and a hound locked together. A pair of blades holding off the golden spear that kept Lament's blades inches from the Shears's face. Kursed worked her hands back and forth behind her back, trying desperately to get free of the ropes that bound her wrists as she was forced to watch on. Lament however, suddenly twirled his two blades through the air, one shot in through an opening, it's path tearing straight for the hound's throat, while the second came in low aiming for the left knee. The spinning motion of the spear, was a familiar tactic he'd seen Kursed use before, it was a difficult, nearly impossibly defense. Thus was proved as the clang of steel caused his weapons to be thrown out wide from his body. The bladed short end of the spear lunged in, keeping Shears at a fair distance from his foe, before the true blade of the weapon came down in a wide, downward arc. The cross formed of Lament's blades drew the spear top to the ground before the crafty fox left the blades buried deep in the soil before firing a kick into Shears's chest that sent the canine barreling into the bound vixen knocking her to the ground…  
Shears sat up in time to watch the vixen's spear strike the ground near her chair. As this happened, the hound could only watch on as Lament rearmed himself hoisting both blades from the soil. Shears quickly reached for the spear only to have a vixen's feet plat squarely beneath his chin sending him reeling back once again…  
"No body touches my spear," She huffed violently twirling the blade through the air.

Shears wiped a mess of blood from his face, "I see…" He chuckled, "…the loving pair back amid one another's arms. However," He sighed reaching for something off to the side of his location, using a deft swipe of his hand to reveal a thick bladed sword who's handle circling guard bore a strange look, "but, how long–I wonder–can you keep it that way this time?"

Kursed backed up until she found herself at Lament's side, "Fox are you alright?"  
The vulpine shook his head as he narrowed his eyes at the hound, "There's something different about Shears. This isn't the same person I fought before."

Shears smiled grimly, "So you've noticed," He said a flourish of his blade somehow rending the chair into nothing more than a pile of wood, "genetic research has gone so very much further than back on Titania those years ago don't you agree McCloud?"

Lament laughed to himself, "You keep calling me that thinking you're still fighting Fox McCloud," He replied aiming a blade in Shears's direction, "but, McCloud is dead, and you're about to join him."

Kursed found herself immediately pushed to the side as Lament shot in both blades ripping a path ahead of him. However, as rapid and amazing as Lament's blades's movement, every attempt at working his way through Shears's defenses were blocked by only the single blade. The two clashed over and over, neither of them giving an inch to the other. Kursed however looked onto the warring conflict with amazement, even as Fox McCloud, she had never seen the fox move as he was now–every movement, his body language, his battle stance, even the motions of his blades, weaved together to form an entirely different being–he was Lament in body, but, Fox McCloud's spirit was in every strike, Fox…and more. There was something about the way he fought; it looked…almost cerinian.  
So much time had passed since seeing such strikes and motions that she had almost forgotten what Cerinian swordsmanship looked like. Despite everything else however, the blue vixen found herself incapable of acting. The mesmerizing attacks and motions were far beyond what she could do with a simple spear. Again as she watched Lament dove in at his enemy, both blades aimed side by side in a low thrust. The attack only met with the side of a longsword, with a slight smile however, Shears found a blade moving in a wide arc both along his upper and lower body. Choosing which of the two to defend was easy enough, a slight delay in the two attacks caused him to go low knocking the lower of the two blades short. In the same quick motion the blade came back up knocking away the sword that tore a straight line for his chest. The parry however still struck the blade causing the tip of the blade to split the sensitive tissue of his nose. Growling in utter anguish and pain, Shears swung his sword overhead striking down over a defending blade, but, in that lightning fast instant Shears dropped the blade low thrusting trough Lament's defenses. The blade bit deep against the side of the fox's neck…but as Lament reeled onto his heels, his face contorted into a grimace, not of pain but of rage. As the two parted Kursed rushed to Lament's side, the wound was deep, the bleeding was bad…  
Kursed pressed a hand to the wound, "Fox…this isn't going to work. We have to get this cut bandaged."

"You don't understand Krystal," He replied shaking his head while gently pushing her to the side, "all I was ever about was helping others. This Lament thing was my fault to begin with; I could have stopped everything before it started if I just would have listened to you before the War. Once this bastard is dead, every last piece of Andross will be dead. Once all of this is over, I can leave all this Lament business behind me. We can leave Lylat…start over, but I have to do it on my terms. Not theirs."

Lament reached to the ground scooping up a large bit of mud that he then rubbed into the wound, it burned and ached but, the bleeding almost instantly stopped. Taking a hold of both his swords again, however he seemed to mumble something under his breath it was something that passed unheard by Shears but, it was something that Krystal made out with the clarity of glass. A single word, Dravyn. She recalled him recapping his tale of the strange Cerinian with whom he'd created the two swords he held. However very suddenly Lament slipped the two handles together. The hilts and handles locked together forming a weapon with doubled blades no more than two inches apart from one another. Something bizarre became instantly apparent as the vulpine drew the strange new blade up over his shoulder the blades curved out toward the hound.  
"Hmm…" Shears sneered, "…is that supposed to frighten me?"

Kursed could not even recognize the fox's eyes, "The blade is the very least of your concerns…" The calm but stern voice was something that neither of them had ever heard, but, it was clearly not the voice of Fox McCloud, or Lament.  
"What?" Shears paused, "Who?"

The fox widened his stance before guiding his hand along the underside of his inverted blades until his thumb rested under their tips, "My name is Dravyn, and so long as my brother holds this blade…he will not see his end by your hand," He warned the canine, "or any other."

Kursed could only stand and watch, wide eyed with her mouth hanging open, "Spirit Bond? How is that even possible? Fox isn't a Cerinian."  
"The bond is in spirit," Lament replied, "and in spirit…we are all the same."

Without any form or warning, Lament shot across the wide expanse that separated him from Shears. Their blades clashed in a thundering ring of steel that echoed through the area. Again the two danced around one another their blades crashing against one another over and over. The strange blade that Lament wielded rolled over Shears's again and again, it's strange and unique construction causing his opponent's strange blade to only concentrate more and more power into every blow. However, after a short sprawl, the two backed away from one another, and a slight pain caused Shears to inspect a wound across his chest that folded oddly, it was painfully clear that such a wound was no possibly to be healed by such a thing as stitches, but, such things were fairly far from the canine's mind at the moment. Whatever it was he was experiencing this thing he was fighting had nothing to do with Fox McCloud.  
With an angered growl Shears shot forward the immense speed at which his blade struck against Lament's. The rapid succession of the blades colliding caused both them to stumble about, Shears pushed Lament back onto his heels, forcing him around the area giving him no space by which to make a proper parry or counter. Suddenly Lament' heel caught a stone causing him to reel and his defenses to fall; the cunning hound was none to slow in taking up the opening. The rapid series of thrusts and slashes tore into his flesh, several thrusts landed ripping open his right shoulder, moving down over his side, and the same leg. A gash opened up in his right side, another across his right breast, a third clipped his left knee causing Lament to finally collapse to his one good knee. With a gasping breath however, Lament shot in the side-by-side motion of his blade crashing against Shears's. The rocking force of each blow knocking the hound to this side or that…

In a strange mixture of maneuvers Lament spun about first whipping about one blade, then two, then one again clashing an endless array of slashes, the simple fact that he could defend against it was incomprehensible. However, Lament's twin blades suddenly collided at his side before coming down in an overhead slash aiming to split the horrible hound in two. His defense held solid, but, in that same moment Shears felt a powerful pinch in his stomach, for that single moment he had completely forgotten about the blade's properties. The instant in which the blades came together against Shears's high defense, the blades split, and where one held it's ground, the other shot in. The hound dropped his own blade grasping at the metal lodged in his gut. Shears grimaced in agony as Lament made a deft twist of his blade, before suddenly tearing it up through his chest, neck, and finally out the tope of his skull. An insane spray of gore exploded from the grotesque wound. The blood saturated fox turned to face Kursed and with a bright smile slid his two swords into their respective sheathes…  
"Three years and all I ever heard was how beautiful you were," He said.  
Kursed shook her head, "You, you are Dravyn."

Lament nodded with a smile, "Please. When he wakes up, tell Lament this for me," He chuckled, "tell him: Life is only worth living, for one willing to live it."

The vixen smiled, "What?"  
"He will understand," The strange Cerinian spirit smiled, "if there is a next time," He bowed gracefully, "I would be blessed to see such beauty again. Good bye."

Lament's eyes flicked for a moment however, the tremendous amount of blood he'd lost caused him to simply fall to the ground in a bloody heap. Kursed took a moment to check him over, he was breathing, luckily enough; though he was heavy, she managed to carry him to the entryway of the small cavern. There stood the familiar form of a large Argon still shaking away the effects of a knock out drug concealed within the dart that had stricken his thigh. She took a moment to hand Lament to the waiting croc before looking back to the cavern.  
"What 'bout ya?" He asked.

Kursed shook her head, "I'll meet you back at our ships," She sighed pulling her spear, "there's something that has to be done here."

Happy to be alone for the moment, the vixen found her way to the top of the cavern. She held her spear high into the air before feeling a familiar focus of power surge through it's entire shaft. The weapon's butt end came down with a heavy crack. Fissures spread through the roof of the cavern. Again she brought the staff down with a heavy thunder, this blow even heard by the far off Lightfoot people. The cavern below could never be allowed to be found again, and she'd never allow such to happen. For the final time her staff came down, and the vixen let out a rage filled cry as the weapon struck down at her feet. The stone exploded at her feet, the shock waves traveling up the very side of the cliff beside her and forcing waves out over the beaches of Cape Claw. The rockslide came down over her, giving her just enough time to leap from her perch. As she strode away, Kursed look back to observe her handiwork…the cavern lay as nothing more than a destroyed mass of rubble. For the first time in what felt like ages her eyes glistened over, tears rolled down her face and a weight she had felt for ages was lifted as she felt another charge bolt through her spear, as a blue flame emitted from it's butt end she hurled it skyward out toward the oceans of Sauria, where it would fall to the crushing depths of the seas never to be seen again.  
As she stood there she wiped the tears from her face as she watched the spear soar out onto the horizon, "Good bye Kursed…."

Leaving the site of what would possibly, and hopefully be the last time she'd ever have to watch Fox endanger himself for her sake. The vixen looked to where a shrill whistle sounded off over the far hill leading to the old well, where Sydney stood waving a massive arm through the air signaling for her to get moving. As she walked she felt everything wash away; Kursed, the staff, all the trouble it had caused her over the years, even the plight of her own people melted away as she realized it was all over. There was nothing else to protect now, at least almost nothing…

Three weeks later…  
Exodus Colony, Stygian system  
Orbiting Cryonix

The colony had been there only a short while but was already gathering a reptuation for the organized crime that was taking root in the Stygian System. Slowly enough it came to the people's attention that none would every be safe in such a place; total control of Exodus was in the hands of the mafiosos and gang members. Bandits roamed the streets with little to fear, and everything seemed to be possible. One small dive at the hub of the city however seemed to always remain standing, primarily because of the young feline that ran the bar, a young leopard who's last name was Marx, the eldest daughter of the Marx Cartel, the leaders of the black market and head family on the planet Rittera. People ran there for protection, others ran there to keep running, some simply never left; it was a sanctuary and a death trap all at once where sorrows were wasted away in cheep boozes and cheaper hopes. Seated in the thick ozone of lung crumbling smoke and the unsanctified smells of a drunken fool, a young Lynx sat slouched over a mug of whatever mind addling concoction he'd been given. His light red fur drooped and was matted in horrible patches and clumps, the first inch and a half missing from his right ear. His long black hair hid both his drink and his drooping expression. The bitterness of his drink only enhanced by the tears that dripped from the sides of his face.  
Twenty-eight years old, he was on top of the world; beautiful wife, happy children, loving family…it seemed almost poetic that they'd all be killed. He knew it was a hit, he knew that he number was up long before it had all happened, but, he just continued on lying to himself that it would all never happen to him. He barely even managed to hear the strangers that sat to each side of him through the long locks of hair that hung about his face, he could see that the female to his left was clearly pregnant, but, the male to his right was tall, fit, wearing a black coat…that was the answer, it was him…there to finish the job…  
"What're yo==you wai–t'n fer?" He stammered on turning to look to the stranger.

The fox to his right lifted a drink before setting it back on the table, at his side the Lynx could see a strange looking sword protected by a double wide scabbard, "Your name Mordechai Vallendrak?" The fox asked.

The Lynx narrowed his eyes, hoping that the act would steady the blurring figures before him, "Who-who're you?"  
The fox sighed, "Someone that found himself in your situation about a decade ago. I kept looking for my answers as the bottom of a bottle…by every empty bottle had the same answer…nothing. What would you say if I could give you a single word that could make your life everything it used to be…and more?"

As the face began to clear in his sigh, the Lynx could make out that this person was missing a left eye, one that was clearly replaced with a Neural Link like he'd never seen before, "What word…?" He spoke so clearly that it actually even startled himself.

The fox smiled deeply before both his eyes turned toward the young Lynx…  
"LAMENT…"

The End…..

* * *

A/N: Well that's the end of Lament's story. Well...sort of I guess. ^^ you get the point. Anyhow I hope you all enjoyed this little fic. I know I had fun writing it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta try to finish some of this other stuff that's gunking up my computers Hard Drive LOL


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